PCLM-D-25-00117

Adaptation to the climate and ecological emergency: motivational factors predict policy support and behavioural engagement

PLOS Climate

Dear Dr. Valentini,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS Climate. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS Climate’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

The reviewer comments can be found below, please provide a detailed response to reviewer document alongside your submission. Please note that we have only been able to secure a single reviewer to assess your manuscript. We are issuing a decision on your manuscript at this point to prevent further delays in the evaluation of your manuscript. Please be aware that the editor who handles your revised manuscript might find it necessary to invite additional reviewers to assess this work once the revised manuscript is submitted. However, we will aim to proceed on the basis of this single review if possible. 

Please submit your revised manuscript by Aug 13 2025 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at climate@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pclm/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

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We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Joanna Tindall, PhD

Staff Editor

PLOS Climate

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Additional Editor Comments (if provided):

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Does this manuscript meet PLOS Climate’s publication criteria?>

Reviewer #1: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?-->?>

Reviewer #1: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available (please refer to the Data Availability Statement at the start of the manuscript PDF file)??>

The PLOS Data policy

Reviewer #1: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English??>

Reviewer #1: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Thank you for the opportunity to review this interesting paper.

The authors have clearly made a case for the importance of understanding potential factors that influence pro-ecological adaptive behaviour, and why this is important as we move into an era of needing to increasingly influence adaptation.

1. Line 87/88. I am unsure if it is a fair assertion that there is no research addressing these questions, given that the paper is based on other research covering related topics, including meta-analyses.

2. The background does a good job of outlining current evidence related to the factors that effect motivation to act, but there are a lot of terms, and it can be difficult for the reader to remain clear about the various factors. The authors should be careful to ensure each term is clearly described when introduced (eg not assuming social norming is clear when mentioned in line 78/79). Consider even including a table of definitions (even if as supplementary material), or include brief definitions in the results graph.

3. The finding that emotional state mediates cognitive processes (beliefs in efficacy of action) rings true with foundational psychological theory, though there is also the inverse direction to consider - that emotional reactions define how we interpret and act upon facts. These two directions may be reinforcing (though affect and emotional reaction to an issue (more akin to a political orientation perhaps) are not the same). This clarity in the meaning of attitudes, values, political stance, affect are relevant to the discussion on page 26.

4. The Discussion section does a good job of clearly articulating how these findings might be applied in engaging in efforts to promote better adaptive behaviour and will make the paper finding easier to apply.

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Reviewer #1: Yes:  Julian Eaton

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Motivational factors predicting pro-environmental policy support and behavioural engagement

PCLM-D-25-00117R1

Dear Dr. Valentini,

We're pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you'll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you'll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they'll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact climate@plos.org.

Kind regards,

Pedro Fidelman

Academic Editor

PLOS Climate

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

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publication criteria?>

Reviewer #1: Yes

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3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?-->?>

Reviewer #1: Yes

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4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available (please refer to the Data Availability Statement at the start of the manuscript PDF file)??>

The PLOS Data policy

Reviewer #1: Yes

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?<br/><br/>PLOS Climate does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.-->?>

Reviewer #1: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Thank you for your comprehensive and appropriate responses to the initial comments and suggestions.

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what does this mean? ). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy

Reviewer #1: No

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