The aim of this position statement is to emphasise the urgency of climate change as a global problem with significant psychosocial and health implications, to advocate for government, businesses, and organisations to develop effective strategies to minimise climate change impacts, and to position psychologists as a professional group with expert knowledge, skills and resources that can help in climate change science, including mitigation and adaptation.
The APS has played a key role in stimulating a number of national initiatives by psychological associations around the world (e.g., APA, BPS, CPA) to communicate their deep concern at the gravity and urgency of the climate change crisis, and the need for psychology's active involvement and commitment in ongoing collaborative work at national and international levels to address the human causes and consequences of climate change. An important aspect of this concern and commitment is the drafting and endorsing of a clear statement of our position and concern about this profoundly important environmental and social issue.
The position statement notes the contributions of psychological research to an understanding of the psychological dimensions of global climate change, including the human behaviour contributions to climate change, how people understand the risks of climate change, how they adapt to and cope with environmental threats, and how psychologists can assist in limiting climate change.
The recommendations are to assist and encourage psychologists' engagements with climate change issues as researchers, academics, practitioners and students, and to foster the development of national and international collaborations with other individuals and associations inside and outside of psychology.
