The biggest ever standalone public opinion survey on climate change, the Peoples’ Climate Vote 2024, shows 80% – or four out of five - people globally want their governments to take stronger action to tackle the climate crisis.
Even more - 86% - want to see their countries set aside geopolitical differences and work together on climate change.
The Peoples’ Climate Vote 2024 is the second edition of the global survey carried out by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the University of Oxford's Department of Sociology.
More than 73,000 people, speaking 87 different languages across 77 countries, were asked 15 questions on climate change for the survey.
The questions were designed to help understand how people are experiencing the day-to-day impacts of climate change and how they want world leaders to respond. Polling was conducted by international polling firm, GeoPoll, via randomised mobile telephone calling.
The 77 countries polled represent 87% of the global population.
UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said:
The Peoples’ Climate Vote is loud and clear. Global citizens want their leaders to transcend their differences, to act now and to act boldly to fight the climate crisis.
The survey results – unprecedented in their coverage – reveal a level of consensus that is truly astonishing. We urge leaders and policymakers to take note, especially as countries develop their next round of climate action pledges – or ‘nationally determined contributions’ under the Paris Agreement.
This is an issue that almost everyone, everywhere, can agree on.
Biggest emitters support stronger climate action
The survey revealed support for stronger climate action in 20 of the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters, with majorities ranging from 66% of people in the United States and Russia, to 67% in Germany, 73% in China, 77% in South Africa and India, 85% in Brazil, 88% in Iran and up to 93% in Italy.
In five big emitters (Australia, Canada, France, Germany and the US), women were more in favour of strengthening their country’s commitments by 10-17 percentage points. This gap was biggest in Germany, where women were 17 percentage points more likely than men to want more climate action.
Aside from a broad call for bolder climate action, the survey shows support by a global majority of 72% in favour of a quick transition away from fossil fuels. This is true for countries among the top 10 biggest producers of oil, coal, or gas, including Nigeria, Türkiye, China, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Australia and the US.
Only 7% of people globally said their country should not transition at all.
Climate anxiety
People across the world reported that climate change was on their minds. Globally, 56% said they were thinking about it regularly, i.e. daily or weekly, including some 63% of those in Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
More than half of people globally said they were more worried than last year about climate change. This was much higher across the nine Small Island Developing States surveyed - as much as 71% said they were more worried than last year about climate change.
69% of people globally also said their big decisions like where to live or work were being impacted by climate change.
Including marginalised voices
The Peoples’ Climate Vote aimed to include the voices of people everywhere – including amongst groups traditionally the most difficult to poll. For example, people in nine of the 77 countries surveyed had never before been polled on climate change.
Over 10% of those polled comprised people who had never been to school. A large proportion of these were women over 60 without any schooling; some of the very hardest-to-reach groups to poll.
The Department's Professor Stephen Fisher noted:
A survey of this size was a huge scientific endeavour. While maintaining rigorous methodology, special efforts were also made to include people from marginalised groups in the poorest parts of the world.
This is some of the very highest quality global data on public opinions on climate change available.
