Public more likely to support climate action if other countries commit

The study was conducted by Professor Dr Michael Bechtel, member of the Cluster of Excelence ECONtribute (University of Cologne), Professor Dr Kenneth Scheve (Yale University) and Dr Elisabeth van Lieshout (Stanford University). It has recently been published in Nature Communications.

In representative surveys, the researchers investigated whether the extent to which the public supports costly climate policies, such as introduction of a domestic carbon tax, depends on whether other countries also pursue climate action.

The results suggested that the domestic public is more willing to approve introducing a domestic carbon tax if other countries invest, because individuals expect these policy efforts to be fairer and more likely to be effective.

The team surveyed a total of 10,000 people in Germany, France, the UK and the US in early 2019. Respondents were asked to indicate how much they approved or disapproved of the introduction of a carbon tax. 60 per cent of respondents supported a tax if other countries also introduced one, but approval dropped to 53 per cent when other countries did not join these efforts.