Researchers at the London School of Economics and Political Science have surveyed more than 9,000 scientists across 115 countries and found a striking pattern: those who agree that technology will largely solve the problems caused by climate change engage in less climate action themselves. The study, led by Dr Fabian Dablander and published in Environmental Research Letters, drew on scholars from LSE's Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science and its Global School of Sustainability.
Among respondents, 27 per cent agreed with the techno-optimist statement, 44 per cent disagreed and 29 per cent were neutral. Techno-optimists were 23 per cent less likely to engage in civic climate action: they signed fewer petitions (41 per cent versus 52 per cent), protested less (17 per cent versus 28 per cent) and advocated less (25 per cent versus 33 per cent). They were also 18 per cent less likely to make high-impact lifestyle changes such as reducing flying or car use.
Intriguingly, differences vanished for technology-flavoured actions such as switching to an electric vehicle or home renewable energy. Techno-optimism was far more common among right-leaning scientists than left-leaning ones, and highest in applied and natural sciences. The authors argue that faith in future technological fixes, including speculative negative-emissions technologies, may divert attention from the behavioural and socioeconomic changes that near-term emissions cuts require, and that broader political worldviews shape which solutions experts consider necessary.