While carbon pricing is widely seen as a crucial element of climate policy and has been implemented in many countries, it also has met with strong resistance. We provide a comprehensive overview of public perceptions of the fairness of carbon pricing and how these affect policy acceptability. To this end, we review evidence from empirical studies on how individuals judge personal, distributional and procedural aspects of carbon taxes and cap-and-trade. In addition, we examine preferences for particular redistributive and other uses of revenues generated by carbon pricing and their role in instrument acceptability. Our results indicate a high concern over distributional effects, particularly in relation to policy impacts on poor people, in turn reducing policy acceptability. In addition, people show little trust in the capacities of governments to put the revenues of carbon pricing to good use. Somewhat surprisingly, most studies do not indicate clear public preferences for using revenues to ensure fairer policy outcomes, notably by reducing its regressive effects. Instead, many people prefer using revenues for ‘environmental projects’ of various kinds. We end by providing recommendations for improving public acceptability of carbon pricing. One suggestion to increase policy acceptability is combining the redistribution of revenue to vulnerable groups with the funding for environmental projects, such as on renewable energy.
Key policy insights
If people perceive carbon pricing instruments as fair, this increases policy acceptability and support.
People’s satisfaction with information provided by the government about the policy instrument increases acceptability.
While people express high concern over uneven distribution of the policy burden, they often prefer using carbon pricing revenues for environmental projects instead of compensation for inequitable outcomes.
Recent studies find that people’s preferences shift to using revenues for making policy fairer if they better understand the functioning of carbon pricing, notably that relatively high prices of CO2-intensive goods and services reduce their consumption.
Combining the redistribution of revenue to support both vulnerable groups and environmental projects, such as on renewable energy, seems to most increase policy acceptability.
本研究在WACCM+DART(Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model,Data Assimilation Research Test-Bed)临近空间资料同化预报系统中加入SABER(Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry)和MLS(Microwave Limb Sounder)臭氧观测同化接口,并以2016年2月一次平流层爆发性增温(SSW)过程为模拟个例进行了SABER和MLS臭氧观测同化试验,得出以下结论:同化SABER和MLS臭氧体积浓度观测得出的WACCM+DART臭氧分析场能够较真实反映SSW期间北极上空平流层臭氧廓线随时间的演变特征,且与ERA5(Fifth Generation of ECMWF Reanalyses)再分析资料描述的臭氧变化特征具有很好的一致性;基于SABER和MLS臭氧观测的WACCM臭氧6 h预报检验表明同化臭氧观测对臭氧分析和预报误差的改善效果主要体现在南半球高纬平流层和北半球中高纬平流层中上层-中间层底部;基于ERA5再分析资料的WACCM+DART分析场检验表明同化SABER和MLS臭氧体积浓度资料可在提高北半球高纬地区上平流层-中间层底部臭氧场分析质量的同时减小该地区上平流层-中间层底部温度场和中间层底部纬向风场的分析误差;基于MLS臭氧资料的臭氧中期预报检验表明相对控制试验同化SABER和MLS臭氧体积浓度资料能更好改善0~5 d下平流层和中间层底部臭氧的预报效果。 相似文献