It matters to be heard: Increasing the citizen acceptance of low-carbon technologies in the Netherlands and United Kingdom

Abstract

The deployment of low-carbon technologies such as carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) and onshore wind is essential to mitigate climate change, but may be met with resistance from local residents. In two experimental surveys (Study 1: Dutch citizens, N = 395; Study 2: United Kingdom citizens, N = 240) we investigated the importance of the quality of the voice opportunity offered to local residents in the decision-making process for acceptance of CCUS (Study 1) and onshore wind (Study 2) projects. Participants read a scenario in which they were asked to put themselves in the position of a resident in a town near which a project developer planned to implement a CCUS or onshore wind project. Depending on the experimental condition, participants read that they, as local residents, could voice their opinion and that their input was considered (genuine voice) or was not considered (pseudo voice) by the developer, or that they could not voice their opinion (no voice). As predicted, giving local residents a genuine voice opportunity resulted in higher project acceptance compared to giving a pseudo voice or no voice opportunity, due to an increase in perceived procedural fairness and trust in the project developer. Results further showed that giving a pseudo voice opportunity can be equally detrimental as giving no voice opportunity at all. The findings underline the importance of genuine voice opportunities and show that policymakers and project developers should avoid voice opportunities where residents' input is seemingly ignored.