Intention of coastal communities to support climate change mitigation policies for fish and marine ecosystem preservation

Purpose: This paper aims to assess the willingness of individuals living in coastal communities affected by climate change to financially support mitigation policies towards the preservation of marine ecosystems and fish resources and to identify the key drivers of their behaviour. Design/methodology/approach: A survey was carried out involving 994 people living in three main Italian coastal communities. To investigate the main factors affecting Italian coastal communities’ willingness to pay (WTP) to support climate change mitigation measures to protect the marine ecosystem and fishery resources, a Tobit regression model was implemented. Findings: The results show that these communities are likely to pay to safeguard fish resources and the marine ecosystem, owing to their social and economic importance for these communities. In particular, this study’s findings highlight that the individuals’ attitudes towards climate change, social pressures and their perception of the phenomenon play a significant role on their intention to support mitigation policies. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that the communities most threatened by the negative effects of climate change are more willing to contribute financially to protect fish resources and the marine ecosystem. Research limitations/implications: A limitation is related to the adopted methodology. In particular individuals’ intention to adopt pro-environmental behaviours does not always translate into real WTP through additional taxes. Originality/value: The value of the research stems from its unique collective cross-communal comparison of attitudes and intentions, its parallel identification of behavioural drivers at the individual level and its prescriptive conclusions of both scholarly and practical worth.