Bridging the knowledge-action divide: environmental awareness and low-carbon behaviors of Chinese university students

To address the global climate crisis, the Chinese government has vigorously advanced the “Dual Carbon Goals,” which are designed to attain carbon peak and carbon neutrality by implementing comprehensive measures to reduce carbon emissions in both production and consumption sectors. These goals have been incorporated into the educational system with the objective of cultivating low-carbon and environmentally friendly behaviors among the public, particularly university students. This study examines the impact of environmental education on the low-carbon behaviors of university students in China by investigating the role of various types of environmental knowledge. Specifically, environmental knowledge is divided into three categories: System Knowledge (comprehension of environmental systems and ecological processes), Action Knowledge (knowledge of specific actions to reduce carbon emissions), and Efficacy Knowledge (awareness of the effectiveness of these actions). By leveraging a dataset from 2646 questionnaires collected from students across eight major Chinese cities, we employ Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze the data. Our results indicate that while Action Knowledge and Efficacy Knowledge positively influence low-carbon behaviors, System Knowledge has a negative impact, likely due to cognitive dissonance. We propose that future environmental education should place greater emphasis on practical knowledge and take demographic characteristics into account to enhance educational effectiveness. This research not only strengthens the theoretical foundation of environmental education but also offers empirical support for policy-making.