Emphasizing urgency of climate change is insufficient to increase policy support

Although many people are concerned about climate change, active public support for ambitious policies is still lagging behind. How can this gap be closed? Recent work has theorized that the perceived urgency of climate change drives public support for climate policy, but this lacks empirical evidence. Using advanced sparse regressions and comparative survey-embedded framing experiments with 9,911 eligible voters in Germany and the United States, we empirically studied the role of perceived urgency. Our study provides two findings. First, although perceived urgency is key in driving support for low-cost'' mitigation policies, it does not lead to more support for high-cost'' mitigation policies where the behavioral implications are visible. Second, while temporal reframing does not increase policy support or feelings of dread, context information about demand-side mitigation increases support for such costly climate policies. The results are particularly relevant for democracies, where ambitious policies require the support of citizens.

Automated summary

The perceived urgency of climate change plays a key role in driving support for low-cost mitigation policies, but does not necessarily lead to more support for high-cost policies. Context information about demand-side mitigation can increase support for costly climate policies.