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A study from the London School of Economics reveals that scientists who believe technology will solve climate issues are 23% less likely to engage in civic actions and 18% less likely to make significant lifestyle changes compared to their peers. Conducted across more than 9,000 scientists worldwide, the research highlights how techno-optimism can hinder personal and societal efforts needed for addressing the climate crisis effectively.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-07,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
A study from the London School of Economics found that scientists who strongly believe in technological solutions to combat climate change are 23% less likely to engage in civic actions such as signing petitions or participating in protests compared to their peers who doubt technological fixes. They are also 18% less likely to make significant lifestyle changes like reducing air travel and adopting a vegan diet. The lead author, Fabian Dablander, noted that "techno-optimism," the belief that technology will solve climate issues, can overshadow necessary societal transformations needed to address environmental crises. This overreliance on unproven technologies diverts attention from essential changes in consumption patterns and social structures required for effective climate action.
Written for “Climate Action And Technology Faith” on 2026-10-07,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.45, but all 2 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 62063: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-07
Scientists who believe technology will largely solve the problems caused by the climate crisis are less likely to engage in civic action on the issue, according to a study.
uncertain
technology → believe → study
The report from the London School of Economics found they are 23% less likelyto sign petitions or take part in protests than peers who doubt that technology is the answer.
asserted
technology → find → peers
They are also 18% less likely to make high-impact lifestyle changes, from reducing flights to changing to a vegan or vegetarian diet.
asserted
They → make → diet
Fabian Dablander, the lead author, said the belief that technology will largely solve climate change and its consequences, labelled “techno-optimism”, can lead to an over reliance on unproven solutions at the expense of the far-reaching socioeconomic transformations needed to address the climate and nature crisis.
asserted
technology → say → crisis
“Technological solutions are often politically attractive because they promise to address climate change without requiring changes to how people live and consume,” said Dablander.
asserted
Dablander → promise → changes
“Strikingly, we see the same tendency at the individual level, with greater faith in technological solutions going hand in hand with less engagement in climate action.
asserted
we → see → action
Yet technology cannot substitute for the broader societal changes and large-scale shifts in consumption that are also needed.”
asserted
that → substitute → consumption
The study surveyed more than 9,000 scientists across 115 countries.
asserted
study → survey → countries
Overall 27% said they agreed with the statement “technology will largely solve the problems caused by climate change” and 44% disagreed (29% neither agreed nor disagreed).
asserted
% → say → change
The “techno-optimist” scientists reported engaging in less civic actions and protests, signed fewer petitions and engaged in less advocacy.
asserted
scientists → report → advocacy
They were also less likely to reduce the number of flights they took, cut their car usage or follow a mostly vegan or vegetarian diet.
asserted
they → reduce → diet
The report, published in Environmental Research Letters, also found that techno-optimism was most prevalent among scientists with right leaning political views and those working in applied and natural sciences.
asserted
optimism → publish → sciences
Prof Kevin Anderson, one of the world’s leading climate scientists, of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Manchester, who was not involved in the study, said in his experience “a significant proportion of climate academics who enjoy very high incomes from their work, particularly when those incomes are accompanied by prestige, status and glittering honours, have enthusiastically swallowed the blue pill”.
asserted
incomes → lead → pill
“It offers a convenient escape from any uncomfortable sense of personal responsibility, allowing them to maintain the comforting fiction that they are deeply concerned about the world their children will inherit while continuing to live lives that contribute disproportionately to the problem.”
asserted
that → offer → problem
He added the “accompanying faith in future technological salvation provides another crutch: a way of postponing difficult choices today by placing hope in solutions that may arrive tomorrow”.
uncertain
that → add → solutions
“Yet strikingly often, the evidential basis for these promises falls far short of the standards of scrutiny they would demand of research conducted by others.
asserted
they → fall → others
The result is a remarkable inversion of scientific practice: the more uncomfortable the implications of the evidence, the greater the enthusiasm for believing in a future that the evidence does not support.”
asserted
evidence → believe → that
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