Public support for climate smart dairy farming: Evidence from an experiment in the United Kingdom

By:

Walter Kiptoo Kiplagat, Zoe Barker, Yiorgos Gadanakis, Sara Hall, Daniel Enriquez-Hidalgo, Doris Laepple, Christopher Reynolds and Annemie Maertens

Abstract: The UK dairy sector strives for net-zero by 2050. This implies the adoption of climate smart innovations, which improve efficiency, reduce emissions, and build carbon storage. We assessed how consumers perceive these innovations and how much they are willing to pay for milk produced using them. We distinguished between three different avenues: nature based (which primarily increases carbon sequestration), technology based (which primarily improves system efficiency), and emission-reduction based (which tackles emissions at the source). We set up a laboratory experiment with two information treatments– informative posters or engaging videos (the control is a generic label only). Results suggest that while both poster and video increase knowledge, only videos increase willingness to pay (compared to the label). The participants preferred nature-based approaches at the start of the experiment, and exposure to the videos increased these preferences, while posters had no such effect.

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