Support for carbon pricing policies.

China’s ambitious initiatives to address climate change have attracted significant scholarly attention, yet much less focus was on how climate change is understood in Chinese society. This study analyzes the results from two surveys in 2009 and 2016 with nationally representative samples. The findings suggest that Chinese people have a fairly high awareness of the existence and anthropogenic causes of climate change. They consider climate change less urgent than air pollutions but more important than conservation. There is strong support for China to take leadership to address climate change. The respondents consider the government, especially the central government, as the entity most responsible for taking actions on climate change and generally approve its contributions. Policy measures such as carbon tax and cap and trade enjoy high support in China. Finally, the respondents also show a strong willingness to partake in individual actions.

中国应对气候变化的雄心勃勃的举措已引发学界广泛关注，但针对中国社会如何认知气候变化的研究却相对匮乏。本研究对2009年与2016年两次采用全国代表性样本的调查结果进行了分析。研究结果显示，中国民众对气候变化的存在及其人为成因拥有较高的认知水平。民众认为气候变化的紧迫性不及大气污染，但相较于生态保护更为重要。多数民众支持中国在应对气候变化进程中发挥引领作用。受访者认为政府（尤其是中央政府）是应对气候变化行动的最主要责任主体，并普遍认可其在该领域的履职成效。碳税、总量控制与交易机制（cap and trade）等政策举措在中国获得了较高的民众支持率。最后，受访者亦展现出较强的参与个人低碳行动的意愿。