Key Takeaways
- Water pollution leads global environmental concern: Fifty-nine percent of consumers rate pollution in rivers, lakes, and oceans as very serious, making it the highest-ranked environmental issue globally.
- Water resonates even more strongly than climate alone: While climate change remains a top-tier concern, water pollution edges ahead, underscoring the prominence of issues tied to daily health, safety, and local living conditions.
- Visibility and lived experience drive concern: Environmental challenges that people encounter directly, such as polluted waterways and unsafe drinking water, generate stronger concern than less tangible or emerging risks, positioning water quality as a powerful entry point for engagement.
Results from GlobeScan’s global consumer survey, which place water quality at the top of environmental concerns worldwide, coincide with heightened global focus on water as climate extremes disrupt the global water cycle and momentum builds ahead of the 2026 United Nations Water Conference. As global attention turns toward water quality, access, and governance, understanding how seriously consumers already view water-related challenges helps frame the societal landscape in which these discussions will unfold.
Globally, water pollution stands out as the environmental issue consumers most often describe as very serious among a list of ten global environmental challenges. At 59 percent, the strength of concern about water quality edges ahead of worries about climate change and natural resource depletion, signaling that it is a central consumer concern that often feels immediate, visible, and close to daily life. Polluted waterways, unsafe drinking water, and degraded coastal environments are tangible experiences that connect environmental degradation directly to health, food, and local living conditions.
Climate change also remains firmly in the top tier of concern, but it does not dominate consumer priorities on its own. Instead, it sits alongside issues like water pollution and resource depletion, suggesting that consumers probably experience environmental anxiety as a set of interconnected challenges rather than a single defining issue. At the other end of the scale, worries about microplastics receive lower ratings. Despite growing attention, this issue appears to be somewhat less prominent in consumer perceptions.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
With water in sharp focus this year, the findings point to a shift from social license toward clear public expectations that water quality will be elevated on sustainability and policy agendas in 2026. Consumer concern is already high, widespread, and grounded in everyday experience, creating an environment in which meaningful action and visible leadership on water are increasingly expected.
This analysis is based on a representative online survey of 31,960 consumers across 33 markets tracked over time. It draws upon GlobeScan’s extensive global consumer opinion research which spans more than two decades of insights.
Survey Question: For each of the following possible global problems, please indicate if you see it as a very serious, somewhat serious, not very serious, or not at all serious problem.
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, Türkiye, UK, USA, and Vietnam.
