Building Solidarity across Borders: Experimental Effects of Climate Messaging

• In Event: Solidarity in Fractured Times

Abstract

The existential threats of climate change are particularly acute in the developing world, which is vulnerable to droughts, floods, and food insecurity and has a lower capacity to adapt and recover. Addressing these threats requires that citizens of wealthy western countries pay up to help foreigners in far-away places. How can we encourage solidarity with the Global South in its struggle against climate change among citizens of the United States, the world’s largest economy and second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases? We leverage a survey experiment that varies justification for climate aid and the identity of aid recipients to understand what kind of appeals can best motivate Americans to invest in climate adaptation and mitigation in developing nations. Our findings highlight unique challenges in using social justice and humanitarian climate messaging with respect to racial outgroups.

Authors

• Jared Kalow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Volha Charnysh, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Evan S. Lieberman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Erin Elizabeth Walk, University of Pennsylvania