Most aren’t impressed by their leaders’ climate choices, poll finds
Don’t bank on people taking fewer flights to lessen their climate impact.
A new POLITICO Morning Consult Global Sustainability Poll found that a majority of respondents in 13 countries, regardless of political affiliation or political system, think climate change is getting worse and that government and corporate leaders are not doing enough to deal with climate impacts.
The poll asked respondents about the trade-offs they were willing to make in order to achieve better climate outcomes. What do they expect of their politicians? What role do corporate executives need to play to win their trust and support? And what differences in approach might exist between democracies and non-democracies, or developed and developing countries?
POLITICO’s Global Insider podcast spoke to Jason McMann, head of geopolitical risk analysis for Morning Consult, the specialist behind the poll, for insights into why populations across the board are so frustrated with the climate leadership in their country.
How concerned are citizens around the world about climate change?
“You see generally high levels of concern. The lowest level of concern was in Russia, where we saw that 67 percent of respondents were at least somewhat concerned. In Brazil, Mexico or South Africa, as well as India, concern is even higher. In Brazil, 87 percent of respondents are at least somewhat concerned about climate change, rising to a whopping 89 percent in India.”
“If we had asked this set of questions ten years ago, we would have seen that on average people, whether they were in the U.S., Brazil or China, were generally less concerned about climate change writ large.”
— Jason McMann, head of geopolitical risk analysis for Morning Consult.
What do people worry about most when it comes to climate change?
McMann: “If you look at Mexico or South Africa, for example, they worry about drought, whereas if you look across the other countries in the survey, including Russia, the main concern tends to be things like forest fires. In a place like Brazil, the overriding concern touches food and water security, whereas in other countries it touches more so on risks to physical assets, homes, and things like that.”
China should pay for its own green transition
By a ratio of seven to one, respondents outside of China said that the country needs to be more aggressive on climate action, along the lines of richer countries. An average of 72 percent agreed with that sentiment, compared to an average of just 10 percent disagreeing.
McMann: “We see more or less across the board, with the exception of respondents in China, that people would like China to do more. They think that its contribution today in terms of climate change mitigation, or resiliency, is not quite there.”
Democrats and other left-wing voters deeply critical of Biden
McMann: “I was not surprised to see Democrats caring more about climate change, per se. But I think the degree to which they care more was surprising. A whopping 91 percent (are at least somewhat concerned), whereas it’s only 45 percent for Republicans. The broader political polarization that we see in the United States has really filtered through the questions surrounding climate change as well.”
“In Europe, there’s less of a gap in terms of how people, who put themselves on the left and the right, think about climate change.”
Do European voters believe the EU’s effort to claim the role of climate leader?
McMann: “A plurality of respondents in those countries say, yes, they’re doing a good job. But the share of people who would like to see the EU doing a bit more, is low. So in terms of more ambitious supranational climate efforts — something like maybe a tax on imported goods that are not as green as equivalent goods being produced within the bloc — there may not be much support for that type of initiative.”
Can we believe respondents when they describe their willingness to take fewer flights, or drive less?
McMann: “We tend to think of it as preference falsification, and we’re always on the lookout for that type of thing. In pretty much every country we looked at, a majority said they’re not willing to take fewer flights, or drive fewer miles or consume less meat, which I think was surprising. Respondents are pretty excited about buying more efficient light bulbs,” but that’s not a sign of preference falsification.
Why aren’t consumers more keen to give credit to green companies?
McMann: “When you ask individuals who they think has the most power to address climate change: corporations comes directly behind governments and international organizations. But when you ask people who they think should be taking action to do things, as opposed to who has the power to do so, they really want companies to step up to the plate and do a bit more.”
“Consumers say we don’t want these initiatives to be funded through [personal] taxes, and we don’t want to pay for them in the form of rising costs for consumer goods. And so I think for companies, it puts them in a tough spot where people globally are saying, ‘hey, we think companies should be taking the lead here.’”
Morning Consult is a global data intelligence company, delivering insights on what people think in real time by surveying tens of thousands across the globe every single day.
More details on the poll and its methodology can be found in this spreadsheet.