Warming climate apathy to mitigate the disparity in climate policy support across distinct income strata

Worldwide, nations strive to curtail carbon emissions, but income disparities create challenges in climate policy support. While the Chinese government has employed economic incentives to mitigate the financial burden of green energy transition, these measures may not fully address the underlying issue of climate apathy, wherein individuals prioritize immediate interests over long-term climate concerns. Using a three-year online tracking sample of Chinese adults (n = 4,699), this study investigates the enduring predictive role of income poverty on climate policy support (e.g., green energy transition), alongside the explanatory power of climate apathy and economic burden for this effect. The research reveals that income poverty results in lower climate policy support, with climate apathy explaining 38.29% of this effect, while economic burden accounts for only 8%. Moreover, compared to economic burden, climate apathy has a stronger impact on policy support in regions with different levels of economic development. These findings underscore the potential of addressing climate apathy as a non-economic approach to enhance support for climate policies among low-income groups, offering a cost-effective and stable strategy to bridge the policy support gap caused by income disparity and regional economic imbalances. •Income poverty significantly reduces support for climate policy.•Climate apathy explains 38.29% of the effect of income poverty on policy support.•Economic burden accounts for only 8% of the effect on policy support.•Climate apathy impacts policy support more than economic burden across all regions.•Addressing climate apathy is a cost-effective strategy to boost policy support.