A Systematic Review of the Literature on Determinants of Public Acceptance of Climate Policies

Mitigating dangerous climate change will require a rapid decarbonisation of the world economy, with emissions brought to net zero levels within the next three decades. By now, 145 countries covering close to 90% of the global emissions have announced or are considering net zero targets by 2050 or 2070. However, policies and action put in place so far in most countries are insufficient for achieving their targets. Bolder policy measures need to be passed and implemented—an effort whose success, as numerous experiences of failed attempts have shown, critically depends on the level of public support (or acceptance, at least) behind the policy initiatives. This paper provides a systematic review of the large and growing research into the determinants of public support for climate policy initiatives. Our review aims to achieve three goals. Firstly, we provide an updated review of the literature, which has grown significantly since the publication of previous reviews, and we cover all policy types (aimed at climate mitigation) and all researched determining factors for public support. Secondly, we provide a rigorous and ML-assisted analysis of the research landscape in this area, and we, in particular, delineate the gaps still existing in the literature, as well as the key questions that are still open. Thirdly, we synthesise the state-of-the-art knowledge on political feasibility of climate policies, and we formulate our synthesis around an integrative framework well-suited to inform future policy design with view of the public’s perception and acceptance.