Perception of Climate Justice Among US Public

Climate change is unfair, both its impact and causes. Climate justice, which seeks to reduce unequal harms of climate change and produce equitable climate solutions, is gaining traction among scholars and advocates. What do the public think about it? Do they support behaviors and policies aimed at climate justice, and who (don't) support?

This research is part of Yale Program on Climate Change Communication's longitudinal research about climate change in the American mind. 

Publications

Our peer-reviewed article in Environmental Science & Policy measures and explores predictors of Americans’ climate justice beliefs and intentions to engage in related behaviors. Based on a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults (n = 1,011) designed in collaboration with climate justice practitioners, we find that only about one-third of Americans have heard of climate justice, but about half of Americans support climate justice goals once they are explained. Support for climate justice is predicted by many factors, including views about global warming, perceptions of climate and racial injustice, cultural worldviews, and demographics including racial identity, gender, and political party/ideology. Our study suggests a need to build public awareness of the term “climate

justice," as well as how researchers might incorporate practitioner perspectives in

national and international studies on climate justice.

We also publish our research results in report and short-communication articles:

• Climate Change in the American Mind: Climate Justice, Spring 2023. 

• Exploring support for climate justice policies in the United States. Carman, J., Lu, D., Low, J., Leiserowitz, A., Barendregt-Ludwig, K., Marlon, J., Rosenthal, S., Goldberg, M., Maibach, E., Kotcher, J., Torres, G. (2022). 

• Who supports climate justice in the U.S.? Carman, J., Ballew, M., Verner, M., Lu, D., Low, J., Rosenthal, S., Maibach, E., Kotcher, J., Marlon, J., and Leiserowitz, A. (2023). 

• Support for climate justice across Global Warming's Six Americas. Carman, J., Kioko, L.N., Ballew, M., Verner, M., Lu, D., Low, J., Rosenthal, S., Maibach, E., Kotcher, J., Amer, S., Marlon, J., and Leiserowitz, A. (2024). 

Special thanks to Dr. Jennifer Carman's leadership in the project as well as support for the whole YPCCC-GMU team, Yale Center for Environmental Justice, and climate justice practitioners involved in the project.