The social acceptability of a personal carbon allowance: a discrete choice experiment in Belgium

Personal carbon allowances (PCAs) can complement current carbon pricing policies to achieve the sharp cut in emissions needed to meet the climate targets set by the Paris Agreement. While their effectiveness crucially depends on their social acceptability, there is little evidence on which specific characteristics of their design are preferred by citizens and how these preferences might differ within a society. Our study aims at eliciting preferences for a specific PCA scheme and explores their heterogeneity, using a discrete choice experiment among Belgian citizens and analyzing mixed logit and latent class models. Discrete choice experiments are a widely used tool to deliver key insights to policy design, but have rarely been used in the context of a PCA design. We find that intergenerational differences are important factors to explain citizens’ willingness to accept a PCA, with younger people strongly in favour. A PCA that includes carbon price regulations and provides tailor-made advice on how to reduce carbon emissions, is more likely to be accepted. However, purchase limits for emission thresholds beyond which a tax is imposed should be carefully introduced, as we find large heterogeneity across citizens’ willingness to accept this. These differences are correlated with current emission and income levels, and awareness about PCA. Our study is a first step in designing and developing a PCA, as investigating its social acceptability is a prerequisite before actual implementation.Key policy insightsLarge intergenerational differences in the social acceptability of a PCA exist, with younger people strongly in favour.Carbon price regulations increase social acceptability, either through minimum and maximum prices or through a fixed price by experts.Provision of tailor-made advice to reduce personal carbon impact increases social acceptability.Introduction of purchase limits for emission thresholds, beyond which a tax is imposed, needs to be complemented by additional measures to ensure climate justice.