Americans’ support for climate justice

Abstract

Collaborating with climate justice practitioners, we conducted a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults (n = 1011) to measure and explore predictors of Americans’ climate justice beliefs and intentions to engage in related behaviors. 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,” the disproportionate harms of climate change, and how climate justice initiatives will address these harms. Our study also illustrates how researchers might incorporate practitioner perspectives in national and international studies on climate justice.