Climate beliefs, climate technologies and transformation pathways: Contextualizing public perceptions in 22 countries

IF 8.6 1区 环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Livia Fritz , Chad M. Baum , Elina Brutschin , Sean Low , Benjamin K. Sovacool
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Abstract

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. We find that nationally varying degrees of perceived personal harm from climate change and climate worry predict support for these technologies. In addition to different perceptions of the problem, varying perceptions of the solution – i.e. the scope of climate action needed − shape publics’ assessment. Various tensions manifest themselves in publics’ reflections on the potential contribution of these climate technologies to climate action, including “buying time vs. delaying action”, “treating the symptoms vs. tackling the root causes”, and “urgency to act vs. effects only in the distant future”. We find that public perceptions are embedded in three broader narratives about transformation pathways, each reflecting varying notions of responsibility: (i) behavior change-centred pathways, (ii) top-down and industry-centred pathways, and (iii) technology-centred pathways. These results suggest that support for the deployment of the climate technologies studied hinges on them being tied to credible system-wide decarbonization efforts as well as their ability to effectively respond to a variety of perceived climate impacts.

气候信仰、气候技术和转型途径:将 22 个国家的公众观念与具体情况相结合
随着新出现的碳清除方法和围绕太阳辐射改变的有争议的建议在气候评估和政策辩论中日益受到重视,我们需要更好地了解公众是如何看待这些方法的。根据 44 个焦点小组(n = 323 名受访者)的定性数据,以及在 22 个国家进行的调查(n = 超过 22 000 名参与者),我们研究了气候变化信念和对气候行动的态度在形成公众对碳清除和太阳辐射修正方法的看法方面所起的作用。我们发现,各国对气候变化和气候担忧对个人危害的不同认知程度预示着对这些技术的支持程度。除了对问题的不同认识,对解决方案(即所需气候行动的范围)的不同认识也影响着公众的评估。公众在思考这些气候技术对气候行动的潜在贡献时表现出各种矛盾,包括 "争取时间与推迟行动"、"治标与治本 "以及 "行动的紧迫性与遥远未来的影响"。我们发现,公众的看法包含在有关转型途径的三种更广泛的叙述中,每种叙述都反映了不同的责任概念:(i) 以行为改变为中心的途径,(ii) 以自上而下和行业为中心的途径,以及 (iii) 以技术为中心的途径。这些结果表明,对所研究的气候技术部署的支持取决于这些技术是否与可信的全系统去碳化努力联系在一起,以及它们是否有能力有效应对各种感知到的气候影响。
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来源期刊
Global Environmental Change
Global Environmental Change 环境科学-环境科学
CiteScore
18.20
自引率
2.20%
发文量
146
审稿时长
12 months
期刊介绍: Global Environmental Change is a prestigious international journal that publishes articles of high quality, both theoretically and empirically rigorous. The journal aims to contribute to the understanding of global environmental change from the perspectives of human and policy dimensions. Specifically, it considers global environmental change as the result of processes occurring at the local level, but with wide-ranging impacts on various spatial, temporal, and socio-political scales. In terms of content, the journal seeks articles with a strong social science component. This includes research that examines the societal drivers and consequences of environmental change, as well as social and policy processes that aim to address these challenges. While the journal covers a broad range of topics, including biodiversity and ecosystem services, climate, coasts, food systems, land use and land cover, oceans, urban areas, and water resources, it also welcomes contributions that investigate the drivers, consequences, and management of other areas affected by environmental change. Overall, Global Environmental Change encourages research that deepens our understanding of the complex interactions between human activities and the environment, with the goal of informing policy and decision-making.
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