Understanding and mitigating climate policy polarisation

Climate change requires drastic mitigation efforts, yet public discourse around climate policies has become increasingly polarised. Across two quota-representative samples in Germany (N=2,116), we investigate the social identity processes underlying climate policy polarisation and examine whether policy design can serve as a tool for depolarisation. We first show that individuals form distinct opinion-based groups around their climate policy preferences, and that stronger identification with these groups is associated with biased perceptions, intergroup discrimination, and support for radical activism. We then show experimentally that integrative policy designs—addressing environmental goals while simultaneously acknowledging and mitigating social and economic concerns—reduce intergroup bias, particularly among individuals who initially opposed stricter policies. These findings highlight the dual potential of climate policy to shape both environmental outcomes and social dynamics. Designing policies that address diverse public concerns while maintaining effectiveness offers a promising pathway for reducing polarisation and strengthening democratic resilience in climate governance.