Simple heuristics structure and bias fairness judgements about climate change
Abstract
Establishing a fair global carbon budget is crucial for mitigating climate change, yet little is known about what shapes citizens' fairness perceptions. In a pre-registered experiment across five countries (N=3,043), we examine how simple informational cues affect what people propose as fair carbon budgets. We find that people’s judgements are structured around proportionality or nominal equality heuristics, yet they are easily biased and frequently contradict all main climate justice principles.
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