How information, political affiliation, and material concerns impact present and future concerns over climate change in Australia.

Climate anxiety is now entrenched in many societies, though the predictors and motivations behind it vary. Many population majorities now accept climate science, and the serious reality of the threat it poses. However, it is unclear whether such future-oriented concerns are being drowned beneath everyday concerns over material prosperity, particularly in times of high unemployment, rising prices, and housing unaffordability.

Data from the 2022-23 Australian Social Attitudes Survey, a nationally representative dataset, is used to examine perceptions about the greatest social challenges Australia faces today and into the future (i.e. over the next 30 years), with a particular focus on climate change as the most serious threat. Analysis reveals the importance of political voting patterns (i.e. ideology) over other factors, with left-leaning Green party voters significantly more likely to name climate change as the greatest challenge both today and in the future, while right-leaning National Party/Other voters are considerably less likely to do so.

However, when looking at 'future switching' - i.e. those who see climate change as the most important future but not present challenge - demographic effects are as important as political ideology. Higher education positively predicts switching to climate change as the biggest challenge, while experiencing financial hardship negatively predicts it, regardless of political ideology. This suggests that while political ideology may drive anxiety (or lack thereof) over climate change today, an informed self-interest (i.e. based on educated, material prosperity) may be starting to drive greater recognition of the danger climate change poses in the future.

Roger Vincent Patulny is a Professor of Sociology at Hong Kong Baptiste University. His research interests include sociological studies of loneliness, social isolation, the sociology of emotions, emotion management, social capital, social inclusion and connection, unemployment and the future of work, social mix in public housing, gender and social networks, volunteering, trust, and digital interaction. He is currently working on the ARC Discovery 2023-25 ‘How parents manage climate anxiety: coping and hoping for the whole family’. He has served on the executive of the Australian Sociological Association (TASA) and co-founded TASA's Sociology of Emotions and Affect (TASA_SEA) Thematic Group.