Climate change skepticism of European farmers and implications for effective policy actions
Abstract European farmers struggle with mitigating global emissions of greenhouse gases effectively and to cope with climate change. European regulators and national governments encounter obstacles in implementing environmental policies, feeding frustration amongst farmers. We hypothesize that these...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Communications Earth & Environment |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02304-2 |
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| _version_ | 1850268584159215616 |
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| author | Lea Kröner Hans JM van Grinsven Jan Willem Erisman Morten Graversgaard Tim Immerzeel Jørgen Eivind Olesen Alfredo Rodríguez Bárbara Soriano Alberto Sanz-Cobena Tanja van der Lippe |
| author_facet | Lea Kröner Hans JM van Grinsven Jan Willem Erisman Morten Graversgaard Tim Immerzeel Jørgen Eivind Olesen Alfredo Rodríguez Bárbara Soriano Alberto Sanz-Cobena Tanja van der Lippe |
| author_sort | Lea Kröner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract European farmers struggle with mitigating global emissions of greenhouse gases effectively and to cope with climate change. European regulators and national governments encounter obstacles in implementing environmental policies, feeding frustration amongst farmers. We hypothesize that these issues relate to climate change skepticism within the farming community and dissensus with non-farmers and between countries. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed climate attribution and impact skepticism amongst farmers and the rest of the working population using the Eurobarometer and the European Social Survey, and national data about gross domestic product (GDP), innovativeness, share of agricultural land, and climate damage risk for agriculture. Impact skepticism of farmers increases with decreasing risk of climate damage and increasing GDP, causing a South-North gradient in Europe. The majority of farmers in the EU countries were more skeptical than non-farmers. Understanding and reducing this skepticism provides a key to more effective mitigation and adaptation. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b6519732079149cdb4f7ca4852e15634 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2662-4435 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Earth & Environment |
| spelling | doaj-art-b6519732079149cdb4f7ca4852e156342025-08-20T01:53:25ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Earth & Environment2662-44352025-05-01611910.1038/s43247-025-02304-2Climate change skepticism of European farmers and implications for effective policy actionsLea Kröner0Hans JM van Grinsven1Jan Willem Erisman2Morten Graversgaard3Tim Immerzeel4Jørgen Eivind Olesen5Alfredo Rodríguez6Bárbara Soriano7Alberto Sanz-Cobena8Tanja van der Lippe9Department of Sociology, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Utrecht UniversityDepartment of Water, Agriculture and Food, PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment AgencyInstitute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden UniversityDepartment of Agroecology, Aarhus UniversityDepartment of Sociology, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Utrecht UniversityDepartment of Agroecology, Aarhus UniversityDepartment of Economic Analysis and Finances, Universidad de Castilla-La ManchaCEIGRAM/ETSIAAB. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)CEIGRAM/ETSIAAB. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)Department of Sociology, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Utrecht UniversityAbstract European farmers struggle with mitigating global emissions of greenhouse gases effectively and to cope with climate change. European regulators and national governments encounter obstacles in implementing environmental policies, feeding frustration amongst farmers. We hypothesize that these issues relate to climate change skepticism within the farming community and dissensus with non-farmers and between countries. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed climate attribution and impact skepticism amongst farmers and the rest of the working population using the Eurobarometer and the European Social Survey, and national data about gross domestic product (GDP), innovativeness, share of agricultural land, and climate damage risk for agriculture. Impact skepticism of farmers increases with decreasing risk of climate damage and increasing GDP, causing a South-North gradient in Europe. The majority of farmers in the EU countries were more skeptical than non-farmers. Understanding and reducing this skepticism provides a key to more effective mitigation and adaptation.https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02304-2 |
| spellingShingle | Lea Kröner Hans JM van Grinsven Jan Willem Erisman Morten Graversgaard Tim Immerzeel Jørgen Eivind Olesen Alfredo Rodríguez Bárbara Soriano Alberto Sanz-Cobena Tanja van der Lippe Climate change skepticism of European farmers and implications for effective policy actions Communications Earth & Environment |
| title | Climate change skepticism of European farmers and implications for effective policy actions |
| title_full | Climate change skepticism of European farmers and implications for effective policy actions |
| title_fullStr | Climate change skepticism of European farmers and implications for effective policy actions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Climate change skepticism of European farmers and implications for effective policy actions |
| title_short | Climate change skepticism of European farmers and implications for effective policy actions |
| title_sort | climate change skepticism of european farmers and implications for effective policy actions |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02304-2 |
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