Work

Capacity versus responsibility: Wealth and historical emissions as determinants of support for climate aid policy

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Across both wealthy and non-wealthy nations, research finds public support for wealthy countries taking greater climate action. However, it is unclear whether this is driven by a belief that wealthier nations have greater economic capacity to respond or a greater historic responsibility for causing climate change. We explore this idea in the context of climate aid policies, which direct support to those most affected by climate change. In a correlational study (N = 292, United Kingdom), individuals who believe their nation has greater historic responsibility for climate change showed stronger support for their country providing climate aid. Two experiments provide conflicting findings. In Study 2 (N = 366, United Kingdom), we experimentally manipulated national wealth and historical emissions using a fictional nation paradigm and found that wealth was the stronger predictor of support for their country providing climate aid. In Study 3 (N = 797, South Africa) we manipulated these factors about participants' own nation and found that neither predicted support for climate aid policy, but both predicted greater support for their country implementing climate mitigation policies. Although higher capacity and responsibility increased support for mitigation policies, further efforts are needed to understand their role in shaping support for climate aid.

Source: British Journal of Social Psychology

DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12899

Authors: Christoph Klebl, Samantha K. Stanley

Institutions: The University of Queensland, UNSW Sydney

Language: English

Topic: Climate Change Communication and Perception

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Climate action, Partnerships for the goals, Peace, justice, and strong institutions, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,970