Industrial decarbonization is one option to limit climate change, but can come with costs in form of short-run unemployment. Thus, it might lead to political discontent due to feelings of economic and political unfairness among residents whose regions experience relatively more industrial decarbonization (i.e., brown sectors). In his convincing article, Zhen Jie Im tests these expectations in 60 West European countries based on fluctuations in employment rates and CO2 emissions as proxies for industrial decarbonisation and labor market trends. He combines this data with micro-level data from the European Social Survey to understand their effect on citizens’ feelings of unfairness and political discontent. Zhen Jie Im shows that if industrial decarbonization is accompanied by employment decline in brown sectors – presumably due to firms struggling with adjustment costs – perceptions of unfairness arise and political discontent increases. Yet, regions in which these sectors experience reduction in CO2 emissions but not employment rates exhibit lower levels of economic unfairness. Overall, this study implies that policy-makers can limit negative public opinion towards structural reforms limiting climate change by designing policies that avoid labor market disruptions.
