Key Takeaways
- Public support and emotional engagement are essential for climate transition success: While technology, finance, and policy are critical, the shift to a low-carbon, nature-positive future hinges on societal buy-in and emotional resonance.
- Emotional responses to climate and environmental issues vary significantly across regions: People in Africa and the Middle East tend to feel hopeful and empowered, while those in Europe and North America often experience fear, anxiety, and helplessness, highlighting the need for culturally tailored communication.
- Emotions can be powerful drivers of climate action if channeled constructively: To succeed with the societal transition to a low-carbon, nature-positive future, we must harness feelings of hope but also build emotional support that helps people feel empowered to act instead of being overwhelmed and paralyzed by fear and anxiety.
GlobeScan’s Societal Shift project explores how people around the world perceive environmental, climate, and nature-related issues, what motivates them to act, and how society can better prepare for this transition. The transition to a low-carbon, nature-positive future is one of the most urgent and complex challenges of our time. Progress must occur across multiple dimensions: technological, financial, regulatory, and societal, among others. While innovation, finance, and policy are essential, the success of this transition ultimately depends on public support, cultural alignment, and emotional engagement with society.
GlobeScan’s research highlights the global differences in emotional engagement with environmental issues. In regions like Africa and the Middle East, people tend to feel hopeful and empowered, whereas in Europe and North America, reactions are more often marked by fear, anxiety, and a sense of helplessness. These contrasting emotional landscapes reveal that climate communication cannot take a one-size-fits-all approach. To truly resonate, messaging must be culturally attuned and reflect local emotional realities and values to inspire meaningful action.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
GlobeScan’s Societal Shift project shows that emotional responses to climate issues are varied, nuanced, and full of potential if harnessed effectively. In the Global South, where feelings of hope and empowerment are more common, there is an opportunity to build on this optimism and resilience. These emotional foundations can support locally driven solutions and leadership that reflect community values and aspirations. In the Global North, where fear, anxiety, and helplessness are more frequently expressed, communication strategies can evolve to offer a more constructive path forward. This might include amplifying stories of “action,” and not just intent or doom and gloom, to inspire confidence and a sense of agency. This might also include channeling frustration and anger toward calls for greater justice in the climate fight. Emotional engagement is not a distraction from climate action; it plays a central role in enabling people to move from awareness to meaningful participation.
The Societal Shift project is part of GlobeScan’s Profit for Purpose Program, through which we commit 10% of our annual net income to initiatives that advance a more sustainable and equitable future. Our support is directed toward areas of greatest need or where we believe it can have the most meaningful impact.
Survey Question: Please select up to three emotions that you most strongly feel when you read, hear, or see something about the environment (e.g., air, water, nature, climate, etc.).
Countries surveyed: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, UK, USA, and Vietnam.
