Effective Policy Applications of Psychological Science: Drawing Parallels between COVID-19 and Climate Change

Abstract

In 2021, the world continues to face a serious, widespread challenge from the COVID-19 pandemic. Governments and civil society are grappling with unprecedented impacts on healthcare and the economy as well as restrictions of normal social interactions of millions. Still, the climate emergency has not rested. Unless addressed, carbon levels will continue to rise through this pandemic, the development and disbursements of vaccines, and the next pandemic. From a psychological perspective, there are many commonalities between the current COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing crisis of climate change. This whitepaper begins by summarizing the broad similarities between these two crises. From there, we draw parallels between COVID-19 and climate change across four domains of psychological research. In doing this, we identify evidence-based approaches that policymakers and other key decision-makers can adopt to holistically respond to the two global crises of climate change and public health. We conclude with a broad discussion on the role of psychological science (and other social and behavioral sciences) in policy.