Religion, Politics, and Climate-Protective Behaviors: Insights on Individual Intentions in Italy.

Climate-protective behaviors aim to reduce one’s carbon footprint and to engage others in climate saving. Under the late Pope Francis’s leadership (2013-2025), the Catholic Church, to which most Italians belong, paid increasing attention to the planetary crisis and advocated for lifestyle changes to protect the climate. Drawing from a survey of a representative sample of Italian citizens, we checked if religiosity, which research connects to altruistic predispositions predicting prosocial behavior, impacts the intention to adopt climate-protective behavior. We find modest variance, indicating that older respondents, women, working people, the highly educated, non-believers, and politically interested individuals are more willing to adopt behavioral changes. Religiosity is significantly and positively associated only with some climate-friendly behaviors: the willingness to buy sustainable clothing, to mobilize others, to invest in sustainable funds, and to avoid air travel. Political determinants are stronger predictors of intended climate activism and reduced red meat consumption.