CET lunch seminar with Runa Falck: Explaining opposition against climate policies

On 22 March 2023, Runa Falck, doctoral candidate at the Department of Foreign Languages, and member of the research group LINGCLIM, held a seminar on how to understand the opposition to climate policy in the Norwegian population.

"Identifying the individual characteristics that affect climate policy support can inform strategies to increase support for climate policies. In this study, I employ Norwegian survey data (N=2001) to examine support for two policies, increased carbon tax and reduced meat consumption, which are central to the Norwegian climate action plan. The findings suggest that there is widespread support for increased carbon taxes, as well as widespread willingness to reduce consumption of red meat. Furthermore, support for both policies are explained by concern about climate change, left-wing political orientation, trust in politicians, living in an urban area, higher education, and being female. Income does not predict support for either of the policies. Higher age is positively correlated with carbon tax support but negatively correlated with reduced meat consumption. The findings partly replicate previous knowledge and provide additional knowledge about the nuanced views of the public toward mitigation policies. Strategies to increase support for these climate policies should pay particular attention to the following groups: 1) individuals who are less concerned about climate change, 2) individuals with right-wing political orientation, 3) individuals who have lower trust in politicians, 4) individuals who live in rural areas, 5) individuals with lower education, and 6) men." https://www.uib.no/en/cet/158751/cet-lunch-runa-falck

CET has established itself as an important research center and an important forum for research exchange and dissemination in academia. The seminar had many listeners and Runa received many good comments and questions, for which she expressed great appreciation. 

Runa Falck is a PhD candidate at the Department of Foreign Languages, University of Bergen, where she is part of the LINGCLIM research group. Her PhD project uses Norwegian survey data to explore how the population perceives the individual’s role when it comes to climate change mitigation.