Tag: public opinion

Fritz et al. (2024): Climate beliefs, climate technologies and transformation pathways: Contextualizing public perceptions in 22 countries

Livia Fritz, Chad M. Baum, Elina Brutschin, Sean Low, Benjamin K. Sovacool IN: Global Environmental Change, 87, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2024.102880

As emerging methods for carbon removal and controversial proposals around solar radiation modification are gaining traction in climate assessments and policy debates, a better understanding of how the public perceives these approaches is needed. Relying on qualitative data from 44 focus groups (n = 323 respondents), triangulated with a survey conducted in 22 countries (n = over 22 000 participants), we examine the role that climate change beliefs and attitudes towards climate action play in the formation of public perceptions of methods for carbon removal and solar radiation modification.

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Nature – Sovacool et al. (2024): Demographics shape public preferences for carbon dioxide removal and solar geoengineering interventions across 30 countries

Benjamin K. Sovacool, Darrick Evensen, Chad M. Baum, Livia Fritz, Sean Low IN: Communications Earth & Environment, 5, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01800-1

The demographic aspects of the public serve as a core determinant of social vulnerability and the ability for people to cope with, or fail to cope with, exposure to heat waves, air pollution, or disruptions in access to modern energy services. This study examines public preferences for 10 different climate interventions utilizing an original, large-scale, cross-country set of nationally representative surveys in 30 countries. It focuses intently on the demographic dimensions of gender, youth and age, poverty, and income as well as intersections and interactions between these categories.

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Cox et al. (2024): Public attitudes and emotions toward novel carbon removal methods in alternative sociotechnical scenarios

Emily Cox, Rob Bellamy, Laurie Waller IN: Environmental Research Letters, 19, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad5dd0

This study used a nationally-representative survey (n = 1978) in the UK to test the impact of alternative sociotechnical systems on public attitudes to DACCS and OAE. Participants were randomly assigned to one of five scenario conditions, representing different forms of governance logic (top–down vs bottom–up) and market logic (planned vs liberal economy), plus one with minimal sociotechnical information.

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Ferreira, Vera; et al. (2021): Stakeholders’ perceptions of appropriate nature-based solutions in the urban context

Ferreira, Vera; Barreira, Ana Paula; Loures, Luís; Antunes, Dulce; Panagopoulos, Thomas (2021): Stakeholders’ perceptions of appropriate nature-based solutions in the urban context. In Journal of environmental management 298, p. 113502. DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113502.

“The concept of nature-based solutions (NBSs) has become increasingly popular among urban policymakers and planners to help them tackle the urban challenges arising from urban expansion and climate change. Stakeholders’ involvement is a fundamental step, and stakeholders’ perceptions and preferences can affect the development of NBS projects. This study aims to identify stakeholders’ perceptions of the most critical urban challenges, the priority interventions, the preferred NBSs and the benefits of the NBSs, and to identify the determinants of these perceptions. A survey was administered to assess stakeholders’ perceptions and views on implementing NBSs in two Portuguese cities with distinct urban, geographical, and socio-economic contexts. A binary logistic regression model was used to understand the determinants of the likelihood of the stakeholders’ answers. According to the stakeholders, climate change is one of the main concerns in the urban context. It is usually associated with the incidence of heatwaves and water scarcity. Additionally, stakeholders are concerned about the low quantity and poor management of green spaces (GSs). They believe that it will be necessary to increase the GS, to recover some degraded areas, and to increase mobility. The preferred NBSs were planting more urban trees, making green shaded areas, and rehabilitating riverbanks. The main expected benefits were benefits for leisure and relaxation, reductions in air temperature, purer air, and improvements in public health. The results showed mostly coherent connections between the main concerns/priorities of the stakeholders and the perceived NBS benefits; however, some stakeholders did not present coherent connections, indicating low awareness of the current policy for implementing NBSs to overcome existing and future urban challenges.”

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Wenger, Ariane; et al. (2021): Public perception and acceptance of negative emission technologies – framing effects in Switzerland

Wenger, Ariane; Stauffacher, Michael; Dallo, Irina (2021): Public perception and acceptance of negative emission technologies – framing effects in Switzerland. In Climatic Change 167 (3-4), p. 533. DOI: 10.1007/s10584-021-03150-9.

“Limiting global warming to 1.5 °C requires negative emission technologies (NETs), which remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and permanently store it to offset unavoidable emissions. […] In 2019, Switzerland adopted a net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 target, which will require the use of NETs. To examine the current Swiss public perception and acceptance of five different NETs, we conducted an online survey with Swiss citizens (N = 693). By using a between-subjects design, we investigated differences in public opinion, perception, and acceptance across three of the most used frames in the scientific literature — technological fix, moral hazard, and climate emergency.”

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Carlisle, Daniel P.; et al. (2021): Public engagement with emerging technologies: Does reflective thinking affect survey responses?

Carlisle, Daniel P.; Feetham, Pamela M.; Wright, Malcolm J.; Teagle, Damon A. H. (2021): Public engagement with emerging technologies: Does reflective thinking affect survey responses? In Public understanding of science (Bristol, England), 9636625211029438. DOI: 10.1177/09636625211029438.

“We examine whether encouraging participants to engage in more reflective thinking affects their perceptions of emerging climate technologies.”

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