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A global view of eco-social policy support: insights from six high-emission countries

Felix Schulz,Christian Bretter,M. Büchs,Vera Trappmann

Published 2026 in Global Sustainability

ABSTRACT

Abstract Non-Technical Summary Societies are failing to meet basic human needs while simultaneously respecting ecological limits. This article examines the political feasibility of three of the most commonly discussed eco-social policies which aim to align social objectives with planetary boundaries. We use large-scale representative survey data from six countries. Support for all policies is higher in three middle-income countries with a higher number of unmet social needs compared to three high-income countries that mostly fail to respect planetary limits. Both across and within countries, beliefs about the environment and the economy are considerably more important for explaining support than demographic factors such as gender, age, education, or income. Technical Summary Eco-social policies aim to establish a social floor while respecting planetary boundaries and to improve the social outcomes of ecological policies. Research on public attitudes towards eco-social policies remains limited, focusing exclusively on people in high-income countries in Europe. Using representative samples in three diverse middle-income countries (Brazil, South Africa, China) and three diverse high-income countries (US, UK, Germany) – which, together, are responsible for 49% of total global CO2 emissions – we examine differences in public support for three eco-social policies: universal basic services, a cap on income and wealth, and a redistributive carbon tax (N = 11,964). Utilizing ordinal logistic regression models, we find that participants in poorer countries with more social shortfalls show stronger support for policies that are focused on strengthening basic human needs compared to participants from high-income countries. However, within countries, values related to nature and beliefs in the ‘free market’ are considerably more important in explaining support than socio-demographic characteristics such as income or education, whose association with eco-social policy support is inconsistent. Moreover, the strength of the relationship between policy support and these explanatory variables varies considerably across countries, underlining the importance of context specific explanations for eco-social policy support. Social Media Summary People in middle-income countries show consistently higher support for policies that combine ecological and social goals than those in high-income countries.

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