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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Damian Carrington Environment editor

‘Spiral of silence’: climate action is very popular, so why don’t people realise it?

Man stands with a poster of the globe hidden behind his back
Overall, 89% of those polled in the research around the world wanted their governments to do more to tackle the climate crisis. Illustration: Guardian Design

How much of a $450 (£339) pot would you give to a charity that cuts carbon emissions by investing in renewable energy, and how much would you keep for yourself? That was the question posed in a recent academic experiment. The answers mattered: real money was handed out as a result to some randomly chosen participants.

The average person gave away about half the money and kept the rest. But what if you had been told beforehand that the vast majority of other people think climate action is really important? Might you have given more to the charity?

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