Can climate literacy decrease the gap between pro-environmental intention and behaviour?

Given the increasing intensity of climate change, members of the public perceive its occurrence and participate in pro-environmental behaviours (PEBs) that are expected to alleviate severe climate situations. Related scholarship has paid much attention to how determining factors affect public actions and proven the gaps between pro-environmental behavioural intentions (PEBIs) and PEBs, but little research has focused on strategies to bridge the intention-behaviour gap. Hence, this study explores the influence of climate change perception (CCP) on PEBs and the role of climate literacy (CL) in addressing the gap. We use a conditional process model and a sample of 1,668 residents of the mainland China. Our results reveal that public often have higher intentions to behave more pro-environmentally but rarely convert them into actual behaviours. CCP triggers positive intentions and behaviours towards the environment, and PEBIs partly and significantly mediate the majority effect of CCP on PEBs. The mediating role of individual intention in the process of other factors influencing public behaviour should not be ignored. CL promotes stronger PEBIs and further drives individuals to converse their intentions into behaviours, bridging the intention-behaviour gap. Additionally, we find that if the public fail to perceive climate change, CL alone is ineffective. These findings deepen our understanding of the internal and external factors that drive public participation, thereby providing policymakers with insights for bridging the gap from a literacy perspective.