Fossil fuel divestment and public climate change policy preferences: an experimental test in three countries
Name
Fossil fuel divestment and public climate change policy preferences an experimental test in three countries.pdf
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1.72 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
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Author(s)
Schwartz, Joshua A.
Lendway, Paul
Nuri, Abolfazl
Date Issued
February 26, 2023
Journal
Environmental Politics
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Citation
Schwartz, J. A., Lendway, P., & Nuri, A. (2024). Fossil fuel divestment and public climate change policy preferences: an experimental test in three countries. Environmental Politics, 33(1), 1–24.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Divestment is a prominent strategy championed by activists to induce positive social change. For example, the current fossil fuel divestment movement includes over 1,500 institutions that control $40 trillion in assets. A primary pathway through which divestment is theorized to be effective is by influencing public beliefs and policy preferences, thus pressuring policymakers to take action. However, prior research only tests this argument via qualitative case studies. We assess the impact of exposure to information about fossil fuel divestment on public opinion through the use of national survey experiments in three major greenhouse gas emitters: the U.S., India, and South Africa. We find surprisingly little evidence that exposure to information about the fossil fuel divestment movement can increase public support for policies that address climate change. Our findings suggest that divestment movements may be less effective at changing beliefs and policy preferences than previously realized.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Security Studies Program
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2023.2178351
