A new study has illustrated a clear demand from citizens around the world for governments to strengthen their climate commitments ahead of COP29. The UN-funded ‘People’s Climate Vote’ – reportedly the world’s largest standalone public opinion survey on climate change, covering 77 countries – has found that four in five people (80%) globally are calling for their country to strengthen its commitments to climate action.
A clear desire was also expressed for greater climate collaboration between countries, alongside help for poorer nations. A very large majority (86%) believed that countries should put their disagreements aside and work together on addressing climate change (In the UK this was even higher at 90%), while over three-quarters globally (79%) called for richer countries to give more help to poorer countries to address climate change.
The evidence strengthens calls for international agreements to make urgent progress on climate change. However, it should be noted that given the large number of countries surveyed, questions in this survey are high-level and general, rather than tailored to each country. This means they may not capture the complexities of climate debates within nations, and further context is needed to interpret the findings at the country-level.
COP28 calls for “transition away from fossil fuels”. Does the UK public agree?
Where does UK public opinion sit on support for phasing out fossil fuels in the UK?