Geography and rural-urban divide: A study on public perception towards climate change, carbon neutrality, and green energy policies in China

As the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, China's public perception of climate change and carbon neutrality is crucial for effective policy implementation. However, significant gaps exist in understanding the geographical distribution and rural-urban divide of these perceptions within China. We conducted a large-scale online survey with 5123 respondents nationwide and employed statistical analyses including t -tests, ANOVA, multiple regression, and mediation effect analysis. While 86 % of respondents are certain that climate change is occurring (mean = 8.69/10), only 35 % claim clear knowledge of carbon neutrality (mean = 6.48/10). Rural perception is 0.36 points lower than urban (p < 0.001) and exhibits 47 % larger variance. Geographic heterogeneity is significant in urban areas (F = 4.15, p < 0.001) but vanishes in rural ones (F = 1.38, p = 0.22). Mediation analysis shows that climate-change concern increases willingness to purchase green products by 20.3 %, whereas following carbon-neutrality news boosts rooftop-PV acceptance by 82.5 %. Women and lower-income groups are 18 % and 4 % more supportive, respectively. These findings underscore the need for targeted, region-specific and rural-inclusive communication strategies that not only sustain high climate-change concern but also accelerate familiarity with carbon-neutrality objectives—thereby maximizing public buy-in for China’s low-carbon transition.