About the Global Climate Change Survey

The Global Climate Change Survey is a globally representative survey. Close to 130,000 individual interviews were conducted in 125 countries, with nationally representative samples collectively representing 92% of the global population, 96% of greenhouse gas emissions, and 96% of the world’s GDP. The survey focuses on four critical aspects of cooperation: the willingness to incur personal costs, the emergence of social norms, the demand for political action, and the belief that others will act as well.

The data are described in: Andre, P., Boneva, T., Chopra, F., Falk, A. (2024). Globally Representative Evidence on the Actual and Perceived Support for Climate Action. Nature Climate Change.

Key Results

Widespread Global Support for Climate Action

• About two-thirds of the global population state that they are willing to contribute 1% of their income towards the fight against climate change.
• The approval of pro-climate social norms is almost universal. 86% of the global population state that people in their country should try to fight global warming.
• The vast majority of people around the globe (89%) demand more political action from their national governments.

Stronger Willingness to Contribute in Vulnerable Countries

Individuals in more vulnerable countries are significantly more willing to contribute 1% of their income towards the fight against climate change. In contrast, richer countries show a relatively low willingness to act.

People across the world underestimate support among others

Most people across the globe are currently not aware that support for climate action is so widespread in their country. On average, they underestimate the share of people willing to contribute 1% of their income by 26 percentage points. Importantly, we observe this perception gap in every single country.

The results are described in: Andre, P., Boneva, T., Chopra, F., Falk, A. (2024). Globally Representative Evidence on the Actual and Perceived Support for Climate Action. Nature Climate Change.