Policy goal communication increases support for ambitious renewable energy policies

Gracia Brückmann and Isabelle Stadelmann-Steffen

PLOS Climate, 2026, vol. 5, issue 2, 1-25

Abstract: In democracies, public support for policies is crucial to their legitimacy, and the absence can impede necessary reforms, which are needed to keep most disastrous effects of climate change at bay. This study emphasizes the role of policy goal communication as an important but often overlooked dimension of climate policy discourse, arguing that how policy proposals are linked to their intended goals during political debates directly influences public support. We present findings from a novel large-scale (n = 5,655) survey with an embedded randomized experiment that systematically manipulates the type of goal communication and the level of policy goal ambition. Unlike previous studies, the expected policy effectiveness was generated and agreed upon through an iterative process of expert elicitation to provide respondents with a most accurate statement. The results highlight that the presentation of information on policy effectiveness as an inherent element of policy design and not as the larger context in which the policy is proposed significantly increases support for highly ambitious policies renewable energy policies. This study implies that policymakers seeking to promote ambitious climate policies should focus on directly linking proposed policies with the goals these policies should reach.

Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pclm00:0000823

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000823

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