Keith Smith

In the following days, we will share more specific insights for each of the city reports - Accra, Delhi, Jakarta and Johannesburg

Strong demand for pollution mitigation policies, from fines on waste burning, to banning old polluting vehicles: People support policies, even when they might bear an economic cost.

Across the four cities, we find:
High levels of concern about air pollution: respondents selected air pollution as one of their most important worries, alongside public safety & their own economic situation.

We conducted surveys with respondents (n = 11,556) in Jakarta (ID), Delhi (IN), Accra (GH) and Johannesburg (ZA) between January and April last year. The questions mostly focused on air pollution perceptions and expectations regarding government mitigation action.

Citizens play an important role in fighting air pollution around the world. Yet, in many of the most polluted areas, we still don’t know what people think about the problem of air pollution, who they hold responsible, or what they want their governments to do about it.

Understanding what people think about air pollution, and what they want their government to do about it (if anything) is one of the key open questions faced by governments trying to solve air pollution.

Very excited to share the release of our data-based report series – “What do people think and want?” - focusing on air pollution perceptions across four cities facing high levels of air pollution (Accra, Delhi, Jakarta and Johannesburg).

ib.ethz.ch/research/air...

Delft joins The Hague & Utrecht in banning #fossilfuel ads in public. Read more about how these bans challenge #norms and #climateaction in this commentary by our colleague @thijsbouman.bsky.social Bouman, Jan Willem Bolderdijk & @ekeithsmith.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Restoring Gold Standard Science By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 7301 of title 5, United

There is a new Executive Order that is closely related to many of the topics promoted in the science reform movement. It deserves a close read as it will surely have implications for how some promoted reforms are implemented in policy and practice. My hot take 🧵

www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

GESIS Summer School in Survey Methodolgy Introduction to Conjoint Survey Experiments 04 to 08 August | Cologne Franziska Quoß (GESIS) & Lukas Rudolph (University of Konstanz)

Need causal insights into how people make decisions? Conjoint survey experiments let you unpack complex choices in realistic settings. Learn to design, implement, and analyze them in our #GESISsummerschool course with @phanxi.bsky.social & Lukas Rudolph.

Book Now ➡️ t1p.de/GSS25-C6

A minor typo here. I meant to write “broad economic and health benefits”, but the story remains the same. Lots of non-air pollution environmental co-benefits as well with such actions (alongside economic and health ones).

More, better and enhanced data can certainly help policy making, implementation and citizen awareness, but the absence of data should not necessitate the absence of action. Nor is more data necessary before effective solutions can be implemented

Many pollution mitigating solutions (waste management, electrification, road infrastructure, public transit, renewable energy investment) are “no regrets” policies, having broad environmental and health benefits, and should be adopted in any case

The evidence of air pollution is undeniable in many lower/middle income countries. Regardless of absolute levels of exposure, mitigating measures can save lives. Governments don’t need to wait for more evidence before acting

Persistent inequalities in global air quality monitoring should not delay pollution mitigation | PNAS Air pollution is a global health crisis that disproportionately affects lower- and middle-income countries. We examine global air quality monitorin...

Great inequalities persist in air quality monitoring. People in rich countries are 12x more likely than to have monitoring. But that doesn’t mean we need to wait for more monitors to reduce air pollution… ⬇️ new paper with Camille de Lauriere and Ella Henninger in PNAS : www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Strong Support Among Europeans for Banning Fossil Fuel Ads, Study Finds Almost half of people surveyed across the European Union are in favour of banning fossil fuel advertising — nearly twice as many who oppose such a move, according to a new study. Climate campaigners a...

Public supports fossil fuel ad ban: new study finds twice as many Europeans want to ban fossil fuel ads as oppose such a move

www.desmog.com/2025/03/21/s...

A small favor to ask for the hive mind of air pollution people 👋. I’m looking for an archive of the US Embassy monitoring data (previously on AirNow.gov). Does anyone by chance know where a copy of these data still exists? Many thanks in advance!

Keep an eye out 👀for first results around mid-May 2025 🥳

Very grateful for the support from SNIS and SNF on this project, and the amazing teamwork from Raeesa Moolla, Ella Henninger, Thomas Bernauer, Vally Koubi, Camille Laurier de Fournier.

Day 6 of survey data collection in townships around Johannesburg with the absolutely amazing students from Wits (Geography,Archaeology, and Environmental Studies)

Project focuses on air pollution awareness, protective behaviors and citizen demands for mitigation in lower income neighborhoods.

Taken together, the 15 democratic countries covered in our two studies account for 35% of the global population 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 👭and 55% of global GDP 💱. Environmental 🪴and labour 👩‍🏭🧑‍🔧improving policies can be received positively by a majority of citizens across import and export dependent states.

We find, somewhat surprisingly, similar levels of support for stringent supply chain regulations in IN and BR as in OECD countries. We find that support is driven by high levels of perceived effectiveness of policies 💪, outweighing cost concerns 💸.

Classical presumptions about environmental policies being perceived as anti-development and concerns over ‘green imperialism’ would suggest pushback against OECD-like measures in middle-income states.

We previously found strong support for sustainability regulations across the 12 largest OECD states (⬇️). As the impact of global supply chain policies would be deeply felt in middle income states, we explored what people want in BR, ID, IN 🇧🇷🇮🇩🇮🇳 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

2024 is gearing up for huge elections across global democracies. Opening a window of opportunity for citisens to demand domestic environmental and labour regulations from policymakers during crucial election year 🗳️

Stringent sustainability regulations for global supply chains are supported across middle-income dem... Citizens in middle-income countries (Brazil, India, Indonesia) support aligning local sustainability rules with new laws originating in OECD nations. People favor stricter regulations, driven by optim...

Widespread public support in leading middle-income countries for equivalent sustainable supply chain policies. New #OA findings in Nature Communications with Dennis Kolcava, Thomas Bernauer and myself www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Interested in policy solutions to air pollution? Want to pursue a PhD in Environmental Politics at ETH-Zurich?

We are advertising 2 PhD positions, focusing on AQ monitoring and citizen preferences to air pollution solutions across the global south. Apply👇

jobs.ethz.ch/job/view/JOP...

Interesting in social tipping, how to identify the likelihood of a system to tip, and how agency can shape our societal conditions?

Then come on by to my talk in Bern on Monday (02.10, 16:00-18:00,Oeschger Center).

Hoping for a lively discussion and critical re-assessment of this emerging field.

Hi all 👋, I’m new here. Looking for recs for environmental social science and climate science/politics feeds. Quant methods, public opinion and general curiosities are also always welcome. Many thx in advance and hoping this new place is better than the old one…