Examining the Impact of Regional Wildfires on Environmental Concern and Support for Carbon Tax- Empirical Findings from Sweden

Abstract: Climate-driven changes in the severity of wildfires are predicted as greenhouse gas concentrations increase. Exposure to local wildfires may represent a source of information for individuals as they evaluate their environmental concerns and support for carbon taxation. Using survey data including expressed environmental concern and support for carbon tax together with regional data on wildfires, we examine the association between regional wildfires, environmental concern, and support for carbon taxation. Examining the period of 2014-2020, we find that wildfires significantly increase the probability that a respondent states the environment as a societal issue. For support for carbon tax, no significant association is found for 2014-2020, but the results suggest wildfires to be positively associated with increased support for carbon tax in the period 2018-2020. The findings contribute to the literature evaluating environmental concern and support for carbon tax by combining spatially disaggregated data on regional wildfires and individual characteristics. Characterizing environmental concern and support for carbon tax is crucial since they affect the policymaking related to reducing carbon emissions.