A Review of Qualitative Studies of Parents’ Perspectives on Climate Change

Climate change is opening up new fields of qualitative research, including one focused on parents’ perspectives on climate change. Our scoping review identifies and describes studies in OECD countries in this emerging field. We used recommended search strategies and methods for reviews of qualitative studies. We located 19 unique studies (22 papers) published between January 2000 and June 2024 which were characterised by distinct foci, study populations and participant profiles. The two major foci were reproductive decision-making and the emotional impacts of climate change on parents and children. Study populations were predominantly those already actively engaged in climate change issues. In studies providing socio-demographic information, most participants were socially advantaged. In developing this important field, we argue for a broader research agenda with respect to foci and for study populations and participant profiles that are more representative of the societies in which the studies are located.