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A solid majority of people in rich countries are in favour of comprehensive climate action which includes payments to poorer countries, a study has found. “There is strong and genuine support for international carbon pricing, per capita reimbursement of revenues, and thus redistribution to poorer countries,” the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), which co-authored the study.

The study results reflect deep-seated attitudes, rather than current sentiments, explained PIK’s Linus Mattauch, co-author of the study, which in the science journal Nature Human Behaviour. He said the researchers made sure that people’s responses will hold up over time.

“Politicians should not be too afraid of citizens when pushing ahead with global climate protection,” Mattauch said. The findings are based on two surveys involving a total of around 50,000 people from across the globe, which were conducted in 2021 and 2023.

One of the surveys conducted in 20 countries, which account for almost three quarters of all carbon emissions, showed support for climate policy at the global level, ranging from 70 percent in the US to 94 percent in Japan. “Even though the topic seems to have slipped down the political agenda, comprehensive measures to combat global heating enjoy widespread public support around the world,” PIK said.

The institute added there was similarly high support for an ambitious global carbon pricing scheme, in which the remaining global emissions budget (in line with the 2-degree limit) is divided according to population, with countries receiving emission rights that they can trade.

Even though they understood that their own country would occur a financial loss under the scheme, three-quarters of respondents in the EU, and more than half in the US, expressed support for a specified carbon pricing timeline which included monthly per capita reimbursement for every adult worldwide. This would be a substantial financial inflow to the Global South, PIK said.  

“Using several experiments, we show that the support for [this global climate scheme] is sincere and that political programmes that include it are preferred to programmes that do not,” the study states. “In sum, global policies are genuinely supported by majorities, even in wealthy, contributing countries.”