## Support for Climate Action Hinges on Public Understanding of Policy

_IMF Blog, February 10, 2023_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Support for Climate Action Hinges on Public Understanding of Policy](https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2023/02/09/support-for-climate-action-hinges-on-public-understanding-of-policy)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/blogs/articles/2023/02/09/support-for-climate-action-hinges-on-public-understanding-of-policy/index.md)
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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Bo Li, Era Dabla-Norris, Krishna Srinivasan
- Published: February 10, 2023

---

### Survey overview
- Survey size and timing:
  - almost 30,000 people
  - 28 countries
  - conducted in July and August by market researcher YouGov
- Coverage:
  - included 20 of the top 25 emitters
  - included nine of the 25 countries most exposed to climate change
- Contextual urgency:
  - world is not yet on track to contain global warming to 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius
  - failing to get emissions on the correct course by 2030 may lock global warming above 2 degrees and risk a catastrophic tipping point

### Public concern versus policy support
- General finding:
  - People across the world worry about climate change, but that concern alone doesn’t translate into support for climate mitigation policies.
- Correlates of higher concern:
  - more likely to be female
  - more educated
  - followers of news
  - more accepting of government’s role in regulating the economy
  - public transport users and those that rely less on cars

### Key findings on information and policy design
- Information effects:
  - providing even small amounts of information on policy efficacy and benefits—including co-benefits, such as improved air quality and better health—can engender greater support
  - this increased support may be short-lived if policy tradeoffs are not made explicit
- Political economy:
  - some of the most economically efficient policies, such as carbon pricing based on the content of fuels or their emissions, often face political resistance
  - climate concern alone doesn’t translate into broad support for carbon pricing policies such as carbon taxes or emissions trading systems
- Conditions that increase acceptability of carbon pricing:
  - presenting information about the impact of climate change
  - explaining how pricing works
  - describing options for using the revenue it generates
  - stronger support if revenues are used to shield economically vulnerable groups from adverse impacts

### Attitudes toward other climate policies
- Subsidies and public investment:
  - subsidizing green investments finds large support across all countries
  - opponents often cite concerns about corruption and policy ineffectiveness
  - proponents can sometimes fail to recognize the costs associated with these policies for the public budget
  - implication: public spending and investment efficiency matters in enhancing support for greening the economy

### Support for multilateral action
- Collective action and fairness:
  - a majority of respondents across all countries think that climate change policy will only be effective if most countries adopt measures to reduce carbon emissions
  - most respondents in both advanced and emerging market economies think that all countries, not only rich ones, should pay to address climate change
  - a large share of respondents in most countries say burden sharing should be based on current rather than historical emissions
- Political implication:
  - the public is likely to back costly climate policies if other countries do so, both because this increases the odds of reaching global net-zero emissions goals and because those efforts resonate as fair

### Knowledge gaps and policy recommendations
- Knowledge gaps:
  - knowledge of climate mitigation policies remains patchy
  - many people still have no opinion when it comes to supporting or opposing climate policy actions in their country
- How governments can better support green transitions:
  - Educate the public about the causes and consequences of climate change and the costs of inaction
  - Talk about the costs of inaction, such as pollution, and the benefits of addressing these, like improvements for air quality, health, and protection of low-income households
  - Emphasize that the policies work, so the trade-offs are worth it
  - Underscore the shared spirit of solidarity and need for strong climate policies in a broad range of economies

*Source: Support for Climate Action Hinges on Public Understanding of Policy, February 10, 2023.*

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## References

- [Our survey](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Staff-Discussion-Notes/Issues/2023/02/07/Public-Perceptions-of-Climate-Mitigation-Policies-Evidence-from-Cross-Country-Surveys-528057?cid=bl-com-SDNEA2023002)
- [not yet on track](https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2022/11/04/getting-back-on-track-to-net-zero-three-critical-priorities-for-cop27)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2023/02/09/support-for-climate-action-hinges-on-public-understanding-of-policy_