Cross-National Public Opinion on Climate Change: The Effects of Affluence and Vulnerability

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
So Young Kim ◽  
Yael Wolinsky-Nahmias
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Public Concern ◽  
Climate Risks ◽  
Personal Commitment ◽  
Climate Policies ◽  
National Differences ◽  
High Concern ◽  
Cross National

Climate change has emerged as one of the most important issues of the twentyfirst century. Recent opinion polls show rising public awareness of climate change. Yet considerable cross-national variation exists in the intensity of public concern and in public willingness to pay for addressing climate change. Drawing on twelve multinational surveys, we examine two aggregate conditions—a country's affluence and its vulnerability to climate risks—as key factors underlying cross-national differences in public support for and commitment to costly climate policies. In contrast to the post-materialism thesis, we find “strong” concern about climate change to be higher in developing countries. Contrary to expectation, climate vulnerability had little effect on public concern, but did have significant impact on some measures of personal commitment and support for climate policies. The analysis indicates that, in most countries examined, high concern about climate change is only beginning to translate into personal commitment to action.

Deliberating about Climate Change: The Case for ‘Thinking and Nudging’

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominic Lenzi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Strategic Communication ◽  
Substantial Evidence ◽  
Effective Response ◽  
Climate Risks ◽  
Climate Policies ◽  
Combined Strategy

Abstract Proponents of deliberative democracy believe deliberation provides the best chance of finding effective and legitimate climate policies. However, in many societies there is substantial evidence of biased cognition and polarisation about climate change. Further, many appear unable to distinguish reliable scientific information from false claims or misinformation. While deliberation significantly reduces polarisation about climate change, and can even increase the provision of reliable beliefs, these benefits are difficult to scale up, and are slow to affect whole societies. In response, I propose a combined strategy of ‘thinking and nudging’. While deliberative theorists tend to view nudging askance, combining deliberation with nudges promises to be a timelier and more effective response to climate change than deliberation alone. I outline several proposals to improve societal deliberative capacity while reducing climate risks, including media reform, strategic communication and framing of debates, incentivising pro-climate behaviour change, and better education about science.

scholarly journals Current surveys may underestimate climate change skepticism evidence from list experiments in Germany and the USA

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0251034
Author(s):  
Liam F. Beiser-McGrath ◽  
Thomas Bernauer
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Public Concern ◽  
Public Opinion Surveys ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation Policy ◽  
The Usa

Strong public support is a prerequisite for ambitious and thus costly climate change mitigation policy, and strong public concern over climate change is a prerequisite for policy support. Why, then, do most public opinion surveys indicate rather high levels of concern and rather strong policy support, while de facto mitigation efforts in most countries remain far from ambitious? One possibility is that survey measures for public concern fail to fully reveal the true attitudes of citizens due to social desirability bias. In this paper, we implemented list-experiments in representative surveys in Germany and the United States (N = 3620 and 3640 respectively) to assess such potential bias. We find evidence that people systematically misreport, that is, understate their disbelief in human caused climate change. This misreporting is particularly strong amongst politically relevant subgroups. Individuals in the top 20% of the income distribution in the United States and supporters of conservative parties in Germany exhibit significantly higher climate change skepticism according to the list experiment, relative to conventional measures. While this does not definitively mean that climate skepticism is a widespread phenomenon in these countries, it does suggest that future research should reconsider how climate change concern is measured, and what subgroups of the population are more susceptible to misreporting and why. Our findings imply that public support for ambitious climate policy may be weaker than existing survey research suggests.

scholarly journals What are the Determinants of Public Support for Climate Policies? A Review of the Empirical Literature

2021 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-228
Author(s):  
Silke Bumann
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Party Identification ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Climate Policies ◽  
Change Beliefs ◽  
Demographic Background ◽  
To Receive

Abstract Climate change is one of the most challenging problems of our times. To be effective, climate policies need to receive citizens’ approval. The objective of this article is to examine both the extent of individuals’ support for different climate policies and key determinants of policy support. To this end, an overview of the related empirical literature is provided. The article shows that the empirical literature on public climate policy support is very diverse in terms of concepts, measures of policy support and empirical approaches. Moreover, the bulk of the existing empirical literature has a strong U.S. focus. The article concludes that public support for climate policies is rather a matter of climate change beliefs and party identification, and not primarily a question of socio-demographic background. The article also offers suggestions for future research as well as policy recommendations.

A Climate Backlash: Comparing Populist Parties’ Climate Policies in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden

2021 ◽  
pp. 107049652110277
Author(s):  
Antto Vihma ◽  
Gunilla Reischl ◽  
Astrid Nonbo Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Policy ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Empirical Science ◽  
Ideal Types ◽  
Climate Policies ◽  
Change Policy

The rise of authoritarian populism has disrupted the patterns of party competition in many Western societies. Related to this development, the current debates in the United States and European Union illustrate how empirical science on climate change may become intensely politicized, and all ambitious climate policies challenged in the contemporary political landscape. We set out an analytical framework with three ideal types of political strategies for opposing climate policies: climate science denialism, climate policy nationalism, and climate policy conservativism. Empirically, the article investigates populist resistance to ambitious climate change policy in the Nordic context, where countries have sought to assume global leadership in climate politics and have considerable public support for climate action. In an analysis of the evolving positions of populist parties in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden in recent elections, the article sheds light on the interconnection between populism and climate change policy.

Public Perceptions of Climate Change and Support for Climate Policies in Asia: Evidence from Recent Polls

2011 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
So Young Kim
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Climate Policies ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Global Coordination ◽  
Change Mitigation ◽  
Cross National

Climate change has become a focal point in recent environmental debates and policymaking. Latest polls show rising consensus among the global public on the urgency of the problem. Home to the fastest growing economies as well as to four of the ten largest greenhouse gas emitters, Asia holds key to successful global coordination on climate change policy. This essay draws a contour of Asian public opinion on climate change issues based on multiple cross-national polls. While generally aware of climate change and seriously concerned about its effects, Asians turn out to be the least willing to bear the costs of climate change mitigation as compared to the residents of other regions of the world. This portends a great hurdle to devising and implementing proactive policies to address the challenges of climate change in the region.

Ways of Telling: A Handbook for Reporting on Climate Change in South India

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sibi Arasu ◽  
Kaavya Pradeep Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
South India ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Scientific Rigour ◽  
Climate Policies ◽  
Slow Onset ◽  
And Sea Level

Stories around climate change are not easy to tell. They are complex, technical, and develop slowly. In newsrooms where speed is king, accurate and comprehensive reporting on environmental crises often takes a hit. Scientific rigour and accuracy, sensitive representations and consistent reportage on more slow-onset events such as drought and sea-level rise are critical to build public awareness and set the agenda for more ambitious climate policies that cater to the needs of the most vulnerable.

scholarly journals Environmental awareness: The case of climate change

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 328-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shlomo Weber ◽  
Hans Wiesmeth
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Formal Model ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Empirical Relationship ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Social Awareness ◽  
Economic Wealth ◽  
Contribution Game ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change ◽  
Global Reduction

The extent of provision of a public good often relies on social awareness and public support for it. This applies, in particular, to global reduction of greenhouse gases and its relevance for mitigating climate change. We examine the concept of “public awareness” by introducing a formal model that analyzes efforts to mitigate climate change in a setting with heterogeneous countries. In the theoretical part we examine the Nash equilibrium of the contribution game. The effects of awareness and economic parameters on mitigation efforts can be disentangled, raising the possibility of linking awareness of climate change with economic wealth. The second part provides some empirical observations and offers the rankings of countries regarding awareness for climate change, as well as an empirical relationship between awareness and economic wealth.

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