When beliefs meet technology: conservatism, climate denialism, and support for solar geoengineering

[Geoengineering News]

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09644016.2026.2721030#d1e1475

Authors: Dasom Lee, Le Anh Nguyen Long, Jung Eun Kim, Chad M. Baum, Livia Bianca Fritz & Benjamin K. Sovacool

31 August 2026

Abstract

Solar geoengineering is an object of deep political contestation. Public responses to solar geoengineering technologies cannot be as easily explained by political ideology alone. Hypothesizing that climate denialism mediates ideology’s influence on public support for solar geoengineering, we ask: (1) What is the relationship between political conservatism and support for solar geoengineering, and does it differ by country and technology? (2) Is this relationship mediated by climate denialism? We answer these questions using mediation analyses of public attitudes toward three climate intervention technologies across thirteen countries. Our findings show that conservatives are generally less supportive of solar geoengineering, and this opposition is largely rooted in climate denialism with variation across technologies. Once denialism is controlled for, conservatism is associated with greater support for certain technologies in some countries but not others. Therefore, the relationship between conservatism and climate intervention support does not reflect a single, stable ideological association.

Source: Taylor & Francis