Replication Data for: War and pandemic do not jeopardize Germans’ willingness to support climate measures

How do the impacts of acute crises influence citizens’ willingness to support different types of climate measures? An acute crisis can be understood either as an impediment or as an opportunity for climate change mitigation. In the first perspective, crisis impacts would create negative spill-overs and dampen citizens’ willingness to support climate action, while in the second perspective, the opposite would occur. Based on a survey experiment fielded in Germany in 2022 (n=5,438), we find that the economic implications of the Russo-Ukrainian War do not decrease behavioral willingness, while restrictions of civil liberties to combat the COVID-19 pandemic lead to higher climate support, underpinning the crisis-as-opportunity perspective. Willingness to support climate measures is strongest among 1) those most concerned about climate change, and 2) those who trust the government. We conclude that individuals do not wish climate change mitigation to be deprioritized on the back of other crises.

突发危机的影响如何影响公民支持各类气候举措的意愿？突发危机可被视为气候变化减缓的阻碍因素，亦或是机遇。第一种视角认为，危机影响会产生负面外溢效应，抑制公民支持气候行动的意愿；而第二种视角则得出相反结论。本研究基于2022年在德国开展的调查实验（样本量n=5438）发现：俄乌冲突带来的经济影响并未降低公民的行为意愿，而为防控新冠疫情实施的公民自由限制措施则提升了民众对气候举措的支持度，这一结果佐证了“危机即机遇”的视角。民众对气候举措的支持意愿在两类群体中最为强烈：一是最关注气候变化的人群，二是信任政府的人群。本研究最终得出结论：民众并不希望因其他危机而将气候变化减缓工作置于次要位置。