Public Support for Climate Change Mitigation Policies: A Cross Country Survey

IMF Working Papers, October 27, 2023

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Canonical URL: Public Support for Climate Change Mitigation Policies: A Cross Country Survey

Building public support for climate mitigation is a key prerequisite to making meaningful strides toward decarbonization and achieving net-zero emissions.
The paper uses nationally representative, individual-level surveys for 28 countries to identify current levels and drivers of support for climate mitigation policies.

Data: nationally representative, individual-level surveys for 28 countries.
Experimental design: randomized information experiments embedded in the surveys to test responses to new information about policy benefits and potential costs.

Controlling for individual characteristics, important drivers of support for carbon pricing policies include:
- Pre-existing beliefs about policy efficacy.
- Perceived costs and co-benefits (e.g., cleaner air).
- The degree of policy progressivity.
Knowledge gaps about climate mitigation policies can be large.
Randomized information experiments show that support:
- Increases after individuals are introduced to new information on the benefits of such policies.
- Decreases after individuals are introduced to new information on the potential costs of such policies.

Subject: Climate change, Climate policy, Environment, Greenhouse gas emissions
Keywords: carbon pricing, Climate change, climate mitigating policy, Climate mitigation policies, Climate policy, Europe, experiments, Global, Greenhouse gas emissions, IMF working paper 23/223, mitigation policy, policy progressivity, survey