TY - UNPB
T1 - Public support for climate mitigation and adaptation policies across Europe
AU - Sanford, Mary
AU - Mlakar, Žan
AU - Smith, E. Keith
AU - Bouman, Thijs
AU - Emmerling, Johannes
AU - Levis, Alessio
AU - Pianta, Silvia
AU - Perlaviciute, Goda
AU - Stapper, Lea
AU - Tavoni, Massimo
AU - Berger, Loic
AU - van den Bergh, Jeroen
AU - Bernauer, Thomas
AU - Casamassima, Alessia
AU - Epper, Thomas
AU - Montoya-Villalobos, Maria J.
AU - Savin, Ivan
AU - Ščasný, Milan
AU - Turmunkh, Uyanga
AU - Zvěřinová, Iva
PY - 2026/4/2
Y1 - 2026/4/2
N2 - Understanding the drivers of public support for climate policies is crucial for de-signing socially feasible policy packages. However, most large-scale public opinion surveys focus primarily on mitigation policies. Here, we combine two representative survey waves from nine European countries (n = 27,910) to directly compare determinants of public support for climate change mitigation versus adaptation measures.We find that respondents support both mitigation and adaptation as policy objectives, but support specific adaptation policies slightly more than specific mitigation measures. Moreover, support for the two is shaped by a different composition of individual characteristics and policy evaluations. While adaptation support is driven primarily by perceived effectiveness, mitigation support is mostly driven by cost salience and politicisation. Our results suggest a stark difference in how Europeans incorporate the costs and benefits of mitigation versus adaptation policies into their support, and suggest avenues for remedying this imbalance.
AB - Understanding the drivers of public support for climate policies is crucial for de-signing socially feasible policy packages. However, most large-scale public opinion surveys focus primarily on mitigation policies. Here, we combine two representative survey waves from nine European countries (n = 27,910) to directly compare determinants of public support for climate change mitigation versus adaptation measures.We find that respondents support both mitigation and adaptation as policy objectives, but support specific adaptation policies slightly more than specific mitigation measures. Moreover, support for the two is shaped by a different composition of individual characteristics and policy evaluations. While adaptation support is driven primarily by perceived effectiveness, mitigation support is mostly driven by cost salience and politicisation. Our results suggest a stark difference in how Europeans incorporate the costs and benefits of mitigation versus adaptation policies into their support, and suggest avenues for remedying this imbalance.
U2 - 10.31235/osf.io/cpwxt_v1
DO - 10.31235/osf.io/cpwxt_v1
M3 - Preprint
BT - Public support for climate mitigation and adaptation policies across Europe
PB - OSF Preprints
ER -