Setting countries across the globe on environmentally sustainable paths requires large-scale systemic changes across a range of areas, including energy systems, industrial systems and individual consumption patterns. Public policy plays a fundamental role in inducing such changes. Examples of policy instruments include different combinations of regulations, tax measures and subsidies which are targeted at either businesses or private individuals. The SPES Report “Environmental sustainability from below: Public opinions across the Globe” by Researchers of the Oslo Metropolitan University and the European University Institute focuses on environmental sustainability and, more specifically, on publico opinion towards general policy measure and citizens’ willingness to bear some of the costs that sustainability transitions entail.
To slow down climate change and move to a society with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, there is a need for a fundamental shift in consumption and production systems.
This is commonly referred to as a sustainability transition and involves radical changes in socio-technical systems. Changing these systems involves both technological innovations and changes in social practices. Governments can, for instance, regulate, invest and provide economic incentives to change the behaviour of individuals and businesses. However, such government actions come at a cost for some people while benefiting others.
Public opinion towards general policy measures
The study, thus, analyses public attitudes towards some general policy measures that governments may adopt to promote environmental sustainability. The question revolves around the characteristics that can explain public support for and opposition to transition policy trajectories among people living in different institutional and socio-economic contexts.
To address this question, researchers proceeded in two steps. First, they asked what explains the differences in citizens’ preferences for improved living standards for people today over the preservation of nature for future generations, commonly referred to as the trade-off between economic growth and the environment.
Second, they analysed differences in public support for and opposition to three specific environmental policy instruments across countries in both the Global South and Global North:
- higher prices
- higher taxes
- decreased standard of living
The countries differ greatly when it comes to standard of living, welfare regimes and vulnerability to climate change. The motivation is to capture how such variation matters for individual priorities in transition processes.
Findings show that there are large differences in how people across different countries view the trade-off between economic growth and environmental preservation. In countries with higher HDI scores, people are more likely to favour investments in environmental protection. Conversely, weak quality of government and low social expenditure were factors associated with support for reduced attention to the future of the environment and more to the jobs and prices today.
The analysis is based on public opinion data from the 2020 environment module provided by the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP Research Group, 2023). The dataset includes responses from 28 countries worldwide, including Austria, Australia, China, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Iceland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Lithuania, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan,Thailand and United States. While the ISSP data are global in scope, coverage across global regions is highly uneven. Many European countries have participated in the survey, while there are no countries from South America and only one country from Africa.
The data were collected between October 2019 and May 2023 and included 44,100 observations.
The Working Paper 8.1″Environmental sustainability from below: Public opinions across the Globe” is part of Task 8.1 / Work Package 8. The report has been written by Therese Dokken – researcher of the SPES Project, Oslo Metropolitan University; Mi Ah Schoyen – Team leader and researcher of the SPES Project, Oslo Metropolitan University; Jacopo Cammeo – Researcher of the SPES Project, European University Institute.
