What it is
Using vignette experiments in nationally representative surveys of 10,852 people in Brazil, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Norway and the UK, the authors tested which ways of implementing novel carbon removal methods win public support. Support hinged on procedural and distributive fairness: opening planning to public and expert scrutiny, sharing benefits and using not-for-profit arrangements consistently increased support across every country and technology tested, and respondents were unwilling to trade these fairness considerations for better technical performance.
Why it matters
Removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is becoming a central pillar of climate policy alongside rapid emissions cuts, which raises the question of how it can be scaled equitably and legitimately. Consistent evidence from six countries in the global south and north that fairness in process and in who benefits outweighs technical performance gives a concrete basis for designing carbon removal that can win public support.
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Filed underSustainability and Climate Change Governance, Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy, Climate Change and Geoengineering