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Individual efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses could have a significant impact on climate change if enough people choose to act together. When it comes to traveling however, people seem to find excuses to travel by plane disregarding their concern for the climate. This thesis aims to understand the underlying principles of Norwegians’ climate concerns when traveling by plane, and if the Covid-19 pandemic is a catalyst for changing these concerns. A mixed-methods approach involving in-depth interviews including a quantitative assessment of core values of 22 Norwegians, is used to explore the following two research questions: In what way do individual climate concerns of flight travel vary based on the perceived role they inhabit? and Has the Covid-19 pandemic impacted individuals' motivations and climate concerns of traveling by plane? Three main purposes of travel were identified as leisure, visits, and business, all of which encompass different roles. Roles exist in social settings with expectations and responsibilities connected to them. When not fulfilling these requirements, sanctions are used to steer behavior. Acting according to social norms may contradict individuals' own values and create a gap between their attitudes and behavior. In order to examine the function of roles’ impact on climate concern when traveling, an archetype analysis was conducted following the interviews based on their level of climate concern and actual behavior. Participants were categorized into five groups: the Climate Activist, the Optimist, the Average Joe, the Free rider, and the Climate Denier. The groups differed when arguing which purpose is justifiable for flying, and the requirements attached to roles were found as a frequent excuse. The Climate Activists found all non-essential travel to be illegitimate reasons to travel by plane. The Optimists were more open to travel for leisure, however, aspired to travel in more climate-friendly ways. On the other hand, the Average Joes were more willing to sacrifice work-related trips and valued leisure as a necessity. Furthermore, the Free riders did not feel the need to give excuses for their trips and would rather compensate for the climate in other ways. Lastly, the Climate Deniers did not express any climate concerns regardless of the purpose of the trip. These trends aligned with the quantitative results from the values questionnaire from the ACT project. Using the pandemic as a catalyst for institutional change, in the form of norm emergence, could indicate a potential for lasting change in climate concern. There has been a significant change in travel patterns, both with more domestic destinations for leisure and in the business sector where new habits and norms have already emerged. Nevertheless, leisure travel and visitations are predicted to rebound when the pandemic is over. Thus, the positive climate impact of reduced flights was an unintentional advantage of the pandemic, rather than caused by increased awareness of climate change. M-IES

This thesis explores the issue of non-participation among young Norwegians in collective actions with a climate cause. The aim is to investigate whether there are any common features between the non-participants in terms of individual and social characteristics as well as the reasons they give for not taking part in collective actions. With this objective in mind, two research questions were formulated: 1.) Are there any common individual characteristics and social contexts that the non-participatory youth share that may explain their lack of participation? 2.) How do young people who do not engage in climate activism reflect on their non-participation in collective actions against climate change? A qualitative research strategy was used, and individual in-depth interviews were set as the main data collection method. The sample consisted of 19 young people between the ages of 18-29 who study at the two largest universities in Oslo, UiO and OsloMet. This thesis applies a modified social-psychological framework, with contributions from sociology and social movement theory, that could help explain the process of non-participation. Using this, it finds that the environmental values among non-participants play a key role in how they relate to climate change and their feelings of responsibility within it. Furthermore, this influences their behavior in terms of participation in other climate related activities than collective actions. While the non-participation of respondents with lower environmental orientation could be justified by their value set, this thesis raises the question of why respondents with high environmental values chose not to participate in collective actions. It finds that these respondents either question their own personal suitability or the political implications of participation in collective actions. Key words: non-participation, young people, collective actions, climate change, social-psychology, powerless hypothesis, delegation hypothesis. M-DS

This thesis will estimate the Willingness to Pay (WTP) for water infrastructure in the city of Huaraz - Peru. Huaraz is one of Peru’s most vulnerable city to Climate Change. The city lies under the largest concentration of tropical glaciers in Peru: The Cordillera Blanca. Melt water from the glaciers has contributed to an even water supply, and corresponding urban development. However, Climate Change is posed to reduce water supply. Once glacial melt water stops flowing, water infrastructure such as reservoirs and water tanks will have to compensate for the losses. A Choice Experiment helped to gauge Huaraz residents’ interest on these two alternatives. These results were controlled for Climate Change perception and agency. The results show that people have a strong predilection for reservoirs, being reservoirs the most familiar option in the past. In other words, urban planers need to invest in large infrastructure to adapt to Climate Change. In addition, interviews with water committees show that water fees are too low, and might be insufficient to fund infrastructure expansion. M-IES