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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 12, 2025

Using Generative Art to Convey Past and Future Climate Transitions

Using Generative Art to Convey Past and Future Climate Transitions

Published on: March 31, 2023

Climate Action for (My) Children.

Helena Fornwagner¹, Oliver P Hauser²

¹Department of Economics and Econometrics, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstr. 31, 93040 Regensburg, Germany.

Environmental & Resource Economics

|November 22, 2021

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Parents increase voluntary climate action (VCA) when their own children observe them. This intergenerational cooperation is key for sustainable futures and planting trees.

Keywords:

Children Intergenerational cooperation Lab-in-the-field experiment Observability Parents Voluntary climate action

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Area of Science:

Environmental Psychology
Behavioral Economics
Sustainability Science

Background:

Intergenerational cooperation is crucial for addressing long-term challenges like climate change.
Voluntary climate action (VCA) involves personal costs for future collective benefits.
Understanding motivations for VCA is essential for policy development.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the impact of offspring observability on parental voluntary climate action.
To determine if the observer's relationship to the decision-maker influences VCA.
To explore factors moderating the effect of observability on VCA.

Main Methods:

A large-scale lab-in-the-field experiment was conducted.
Participants (parents) were endowed with money and given the option to invest in VCA.
Observational conditions varied, including own offspring, unrelated children, and adults.

Main Results:

Parents invested a significant portion (82%) of their endowment in VCA, planting nearly 14,000 trees.
Parental VCA was highest when their own child was the observer.
Treatment effects were more pronounced in parents with a high school diploma and those who believe in climate change.

Conclusions:

Offspring observability is a critical motivator for parental voluntary climate action.
Intergenerational observation can enhance the provision of public goods.
Findings offer insights for designing policies to promote sustainable behaviors and intergenerational equity.