COVID-19 Pandemic’s Effect on UBC’s Staff Member’s Climate-Friendly Behaviours

The current study brought together climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the previous literature done about the pandemic relates to mental well-being, not taking into account the effect of the pandemic on behaviours that can affect climate change (Cénat et al., 2020; Li, Fu, Fan, Zhu, & Li, 2021; Yamamoto, Uchiumi, Suzuki, Yoshimoto, & Murillo-Rodriguez, 2020). In specific, this study analyzed the effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the University of British Columbia’s staff member’s climate-friendly behaviour. We previously predicted that the high-stress environment created by the pandemic would decrease UBC staff members’ climate-friendly behaviour. There were three different time frames for staff members: pre-pandemic, present pandemic and post-pandemic. A questionnaire measured five different climate-friendly behaviours: driving of personal vehicles, flying, energy conservation at home, single-use plastic items and eating animal products. 58 participants completed this survey. A two-ANOVA analysis revealed significance for the climate-friendly behaviours decreasing in the post-pandemic condition. Although further analysis using a Post Hoc Holm test revealed that significance consisted only in flying behaviour in post-pandemic condition. This was even more prevalent in the time conditions: pandemic to post-pandemic. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”Arts, Faculty ofPsychology, Department ofUnreviewedUndergraduat