This statement is generally true. Studies have shown that people are more likely to support climate action if they believe that other countries are also taking similar actions. This is known as the “bandwagon effect” in political science and social psychology, where individuals are more likely to adopt a certain attitude or behavior if they believe that others are doing the same. Additionally, the perception that other countries are taking action can also increase a sense of social norm, and that can increase the likelihood of individual compliance.
International climate agreements are not only necessary for reducing global CO2 emissions, but also for gaining domestic political support. If other countries contribute, the public is more willing to bear the costs of climate action. This is the result of a study published in the journal Nature Communications by Professor Dr. Michael Bechtel, member of the Cluster of Excellence ECONtribute (University of Cologne), Professor Dr. Kenneth Scheve (Yale University), and Dr. Elisabeth van Lieshout (Stanford University).
The researchers investigated whether the extent to which the public supports costly climate policies, such as the implementation of a domestic carbon tax, is dependent on whether other countries also pursue climate action in representative surveys. The findings suggest that if other countries invest in climate action, the domestic public is more willing to support the implementation of a domestic carbon tax because people expect these policy efforts to be more equitable and likely to be effective.
Investing in well-functioning international agreements is worthwhile not only from the standpoint of natural science, but also for policymakers interested in securing broader public support for costly climate action on a domestic level.
Professor Dr. Michael Bechtel
In early 2019, the team polled a total of 10,000 people in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Respondents were asked how much they supported or opposed the implementation of a carbon tax. If other countries implemented a tax, 60 percent of respondents would support it.
However, when other countries did not joint these efforts, domestic carbon tax approval dopped to 53 percent. ‘We also find that when domestic climate measures are embedded internationally, people are more likely to believe that these reforms will have a positive impact on important social, economic, and environmental sustainability goals, ‘ says Michael Bechtel.
In a second study, the researchers looked into whether the costs of climate action would be more widely accepted in the United States if other countries pursued more ambitious, and thus more costly, policies. Participants were asked if they would support expensive climate policy scenarios in which the researchers varied the level of contributions made by other countries. If domestic monthly household costs rose from a low to a high level, say from EUR 39 to 77 per month in Germany, support fell by seven percentage points if the price of carbon dioxide remained low abroad.
However, if other industrialized countries decided to impose high monthly household costs, domestic policy support fell only by about 5% in response to a domestic CO2 price increase. ‘Even if people dislike costs in general, they are more willing to accept cost increases if other countries also contribute more,’ says Michael Bechtel.
According to the study, climate change policies in other countries play a critical role in securing widespread support for domestic climate policy. ‘Investing in well-functioning international agreements is worthwhile not only from the standpoint of natural science, but also for policymakers interested in securing broader public support for costly climate action on a domestic level,’ says Bechtel.
ECONtribute is the only DFG-funded Cluster of Excellence in economics, supported by the Universities of Bonn and Cologne. The Cluster conducts market research at the crossroads of business, policy, and society. It analyzes market failures in times of social, technological, and economic challenges, such as inequality, global financial crises, and digitalization, using a new approach to markets.
