Identifying acceptable decarbonisation policy packages based on distributive justice preferences

Identifying acceptable decarbonisation policy packages based on distributive justice preferences | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Identifying acceptable decarbonisation policy packages based on distributive justice preferences Kristiina Joon, Angie Celis, Rira Seo, Susanne Hanger, Anthony Patt, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6819963/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 05 Feb, 2026 Read the published version in Communications Earth & Environment → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Policy acceptance is one of the biggest hurdles to climate action and is heavily driven by people's perceptions of fairness. This study investigates which distributive justice principles people prefer and whether these distributive preferences are linked to policy preferences along three policy characteristics: stringency, redistribution, and instrument type. Utilising an online survey experiment (N = 2,230), we assess support for four distributive justice principles relevant to the decarbonisation context and identify groups with distinct justice orientations. We then test whether climate justice orientation is associated with policy preferences, using data from two choice experiments. Our results show that climate justice orientation is associated with distinct policy preferences, with most individuals supporting a combination of principles and being sensitive to redistribution in policy design. This study provides further evidence on the widely noted observation that justice is a key aspect in the public's policy assessment by decomposing justice into climate justice orientation. We suggest this justice orientation should be considered in both policy-making and policy-driven research. Scientific community and society/Social sciences/Climate change/Climate-change mitigation Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Climate-change policy Scientific community and society/Social sciences/Decision making Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Climate-change mitigation public policy distributive justice normative preferences conjoint analysis survey research latent profile analysis heating sector renewable energy Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files justiceconjointsS1.pdf Supplementary figures and tables justiceconjointsS2.pdf Survey instrument Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 05 Feb, 2026 Read the published version in Communications Earth & Environment → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6819963","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":488677246,"identity":"c963fe90-171d-4791-817f-a2d0947deee6","order_by":0,"name":"Kristiina 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