Only in My Backyard: The Effect of Flood Exposure on Environmental Behavior

Abstract

How directly do people need to experience climate change to change their actions? Using real donation records spanning a decade from 90,000 donors precisely geolocated in England, I show that people are more likely to donate to environmental charities after direct exposure to a flood affecting their own postcode. However, the same is not true when a flood affects their close neighbors, even those within 200 meters. This localized response also extends to public support for the Green Party. Underlying the behavioral effect, I show that people tend to reassess their own environmental effort as not enough after direct flood experience. These results suggest an "only in my backyard" phenomenon, where people act only when personally affected by climate consequences. This offers a possible explanation for the widespread perception of global warming as a severe threat in the UK, yet still insufficient public responses.

Keywords: flood, climate change, environmental behavior, environmental belief