From trust and generational education to climate action: Global empirical evidence on shaping climate beliefs and policies

Vu, Ly Hoang

doi:10.22059/jcountst.2026.412631.1465

From trust and generational education to climate action: Global empirical evidence on shaping climate beliefs and policies

Document Type : Original

Author

Ly Hoang Vu

Faculty of Commerce and Tourism, University of Finance-Marketing, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

10.22059/jcountst.2026.412631.1465

Abstract

Public support for climate action depends not only on economic incentives and information, but also on deeper social and institutional foundations. This study investigates how trust shapes individuals’ climate change perceptions and their willingness to support mitigation policies, particularly through higher environmental taxes. Using individual-level data from the fourth round of the Life in Transition Survey, combined with country-level macroeconomic indicators from the World Bank, the analysis covers 37 countries over the period 2022–2023. We estimate baseline models using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), with all regressions weighted by national population to ensure cross-country representativeness. A key contribution of the study is the distinction between generalized trust and multi-level institutional trust, including trust in the presidency, central government, regional government, and local government. The results show that both forms of trust are positively and robustly associated with stronger beliefs that climate change is real and primarily driven by human activity, as well as with greater willingness to support environmental taxation. Institutional trust, in particular, exhibits a stronger relationship with policy support, highlighting its central role in shaping acceptance of financially costly climate measures. Beyond trust, the findings underscore the importance of intergenerational education. Mothers’ education is more strongly associated with climate perceptions, while fathers’ education shows a closer link to willingness to pay for environmental policies, suggesting differentiated family-based transmission channels.

Keywords

climate action

climate belief

generalized trust

generational education

institutional trust

Subjects

interdisciplinary

حوزة موضوعی: مطالعات کشورها

Scope: Countries Studies

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