Social Solutions for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation: Cross Cultural Lessons from Denmark to the United States

Abstract

With increased coastal flooding, severe storms, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation, concerns over anthropogenic climate change have truly risen to the forefront of our collective global consciousness. In response, the international community has begun to formulate comprehensive climate change legislation. Failing to recognize the root of the problem, however, most environmental policies, industry regulations and international protocols have fallen short of achieving their stated goals. The struggle to implement and enforce effective climate change legislation is compounded by conflicting public opinion, a long history of energy dependency, notions of progress tied to technology, and cultural values. Solutions to climate change mitigation and adaptation require a major shift in prevailing social attitudes regarding our relationship to fossil fuels, and must therefore focus efforts on encouraging individuals to change their behavior and values. Policymakers must in turn recognize the role of social capital, individual responsibility, and public participation. A critical and interdisciplinary examination of two case studies with stark contrasts in government legislation and social action serves to illuminate the factors that directly influence the efficacy of mitigation and adaptation efforts.