Global Support for Climate Action

SUMMARY

Mitigating climate change necessitates global cooperation, yet global data on individuals’ willingness to act remain scarce. A representative survey across 125 countries interviewed nearly 130,000 individuals, revealing widespread support for climate action. Notably, 69% of the global population expresses a willingness to contribute 1% of their personal income, 86% endorse pro-climate social norms and 89% demand intensified political action. Countries facing heightened vulnerability to climate change show a particularly high willingness to contribute.

However individuals around the globe systematically underestimate the willingness of their fellow citizens to act. Therefore, raising awareness about the broad global support for climate action becomes critically important in promoting a unified response to climate change.

The central question was the extent to which individuals around the globe are willing to contribute to the common good, and how do they perceive other people’s willingness to contribute?

The study focused on four aspects that have been identified as critical in promoting cooperation in the context of common goods: the individual willingness to make costly contributions, the approval of pro-climate norms, the demand for political action, and beliefs about the support of others.

A Global Climate Change Survey was administered as part of the Gallup World Poll 2021/2022 in 125 countries using a common sampling and survey methodology. The countries included account for 96% of the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, 96% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 92% of the global population.

Most country samples included approximately 1,000 respondents, and the global sample comprised a total of 129,902 individuals.

The globally representative data reveal strong support for climate action around the world. First, a large majority of individuals — 69% — state they would be willing to contribute 1% of their household income every month to fight global warming. An additional 6% report they would be willing to contribute a smaller fraction of their income, and 26% state they would not be willing to contribute any amount. The proportion of respondents willing to contribute 1% of their income varies considerably across countries, ranging from 30% to 93%. In the vast majority of countries (114 of 125) the proportion is greater than 50%, and in a large number of countries (81 of 125) the proportion is greater than two-thirds.

Second, there is widespread approval of pro-climate social norms in almost all countries. Overall, 86% of respondents state that people in their country should try to fight global warming. In 119 of 125 countries, the proportion of supporters exceeds two-thirds.

Third, there is an almost universal global demand for intensified political action. Across the globe, 89% of respondents state that their national government should do more to fight global warming. In more than half the countries, the demand for more government action exceeds 90%. It is in countries that are most resilient that individuals are least willing to contribute 1% of their income to climate action.

The average proportion of people who are willing to contribute increases from 64% among the coldest countries to 77% among the warmest countries. Average annual temperature captures how exposed a country is to global warming risks. Countries with higher annual temperatures have already experienced greater damage due to global warming, potentially making future threats from climate change more evident to their residents. People living in more vulnerable countries report a stronger willingness to contribute.

The critical role of beliefs raises the question of whether beliefs correspond to reality. In fact, there is a sizeable and systematic global misperception. At the global level, there is a 26-percentage-point gap between the actual proportion of respondents who report being willing to contribute 1% of their income towards climate action (69%) and the average perceived proportion (43%). Put differently, individuals around the globe strongly underestimate their fellow citizens’ actual willingness to contribute to the common good.

The results are encouraging. About two-thirds of the global population report being willing to incur a personal cost to fight climate change, and the overwhelming majority demands political action and supports pro-climate norms. This indicates that the world is united in its normative judgement about climate change and the need to act. Rather than echoing the concerns of a vocal minority that opposes any form of climate action, we need to effectively communicate that the vast majority of people around the world are willing to act against climate change and expect their national government to act.

SOURCE: extracts from Andre, P., Boneva, T., Chopra, F. et al. Globally representative evidence on the actual and perceived support for climate action. Nature Climate Change 14, 253–259 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-01925-3
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-024-01925-3