A new study by University of Vermont researchers finds that a majority of people across the globe favor protecting the environment over growing the economy when the two goals conflict. The paper, published recently in the journal Ecological Economics, analyzed data from two major international surveys, encompassing responses from residents in 92 countries.

Overall, the researchers found nearly 58% of people worldwide value environmental protection over economic growth when the two goals are at odds.

"The political discourse is often very much focused around the goal of economic growth, but our results show that this is actually not people's priority," said Jukka Kilgus, a master's student studying natural resources at the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources and the lead author of the paper. "Instead, they often favor ecological and social well-being. And these are not just left-leaning college graduates in rich countries, but a diverse group of people with many different backgrounds across countries."

A more complex global picture
Previous studies have largely focused on residents of the Global North and have identified characteristics common among individuals in those countries who favor environmental protection over economic growth. They tend to be well-educated, lean politically to the left, are younger, and female.

Kilgus, who is also a Gund Graduate Fellow, said this analysis showed a drop off in support for environmental protection over economic growth among some less wealthy or only recently industrialized nations.

But it also showed that in many non-Western countries, commonly assumed traits like education, gender, age, income, and political orientation do not behave as expected. In some cases, stronger environmental support is found among men, older individuals, lower-income groups, or those leaning politically to the right, underscoring how deeply cultural, political, and economic context shapes public opinion.

"This shows that there is no universal set of factors that influences people's prioritization of the environment over the economy," the authors write.