Public attitudes about climate policy options for aviation

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-1-2018

Publication Title

Environmental Science and Policy

Keywords

Aviation, Emissions, Policy support, Public attitudes, United Kingdom

Abstract

The current trend of increasing demand for air travel runs contrary to climate-related sustainability goals. The absence of behavioural and near-term technological solutions to aviation's environmental impacts underscores the importance of policy levers as a means of curbing carbon emissions. Where past work has used qualitative methods to sketch public opinion of environmental aviation policies, this work uses data drawn from a survey of 2066 British adults to make a quantitative assessment of the acceptability of a broad range of aviation climate policy options. The findings indicate that there is significant support across demographic groups for a large number of policies, particularly those that place financial or regulatory burdens on industry rather than on individuals directly. Support for aviation policies strengthens with pro-environmental attitudes and is weaker among people who are aeromobile. Though self-interested considerations appeared to dominate policy option preferences, concern for fairness may also shape policy acceptability. Overall, this paper provides to policymakers a quantitative evidence base of what types of policies for addressing aviation climate emissions are most publically palatable.

Volume

81

First Page

46

Last Page

53

ISSN

14629011

E-ISSN

18736416

DOI

10.1016/j.envsci.2017.12.012

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