Key Takeaways
- Climate change is not experienced equally around the world: Six in ten people in Latin America (60%) say they are greatly affected by climate change, compared with 39% in Africa and the Middle East, 37% in Asia-Pacific, 33% in Europe, and 29% in North America.
- Regional averages hide some of the biggest climate divides: France (54%) and Italy (53%) report levels of personal impact comparable to Latin America, while Sweden and the Netherlands (both 17%) sit among the least affected markets surveyed. Similar gaps appear across Asia and Africa.
- Climate action starts from very different public realities: Climate change is no longer a distant concern in most parts of the world, but people experience it through different lenses. As a result, climate engagement strategies need to reflect local realities rather than assume a universal public experience.
Who Actually Feels the Climate Crisis in 2026?
Climate change is a single global phenomenon, but in 2026 it is not a single lived reality. Ahead of New York Climate Week, GlobeScan asked people in 33 markets how much they are personally affected by climate change or global warming. The 2026 responses trace a clear geography of exposure, stretching across Latin America, Africa, the Mediterranean, and South and Southeast Asia, while diminishing across northern Europe and North America.
Latin America leads at 60 percent greatly affected, more than double North America at 29 percent. Africa and the Middle East (39%) and Asia-Pacific (37%) sit in between, with Europe at 33 percent. Adding those moderately affected widens the picture but keeps the order: 87 percent in Latin America are at least moderately affected, compared to 76 percent in Africa and the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, 67 percent in Europe and 64 percent in North America.
The regional averages hide national realities that are sometimes very different. Southern Europe now looks less like its own region and more like Latin America: France (54%) and Italy (53%), coming out of a summer of major wildfires and extreme heat, report roughly three times the level of Sweden and the Netherlands (both 17%). The same split runs through Asia-Pacific, where Vietnam (52%) and India, Indonesia, and Thailand (all 49%) contrast with Australia (23%) and Japan (25%), and through Africa and the Middle East, where Kenya (44%) sits far above the Gulf markets (29%). Where disruption has been physical and recent, people feel personally affected; where it has been reported rather than experienced, less so.
In North America and Europe, other pressures are often felt far more directly: 56 percent of North Americans and 49 percent of Europeans say they are greatly affected by the rising cost of living, against 29 percent and 33 percent for climate change. War and armed conflict is also rated a very serious problem by 65 percent in North America and 71 percent in Europe, far ahead of climate change at 48 percent and 51 percent, respectively.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The challenge for Climate Week is not only closing the gap between emissions and action, but understanding why increasing climate disruption does not always translate into increasing public urgency. In Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and much of Asia-Pacific, climate impact is a present-tense reality that adaptation, resilience, and supply chain continuity must answer to. In Europe and North America, impact may be felt less intensely, and other pressures may be more acutely felt, but two-thirds of Europeans (67%) and 64 percent of North Americans still report at least moderate personal impact, and in France (85%) and Italy (88%) that figure is on a par with the most affected markets in the world.
This means that in high-impact markets the conversation is about adaptation and resilience, while in North America and in parts of Europe engagement maybe more effective if it is connected to the costs people already feel, such as energy bills, insurance, and food prices. People in Colombia and Sweden are often answering different questions when asked whether climate change affects them. Organizations operating across both realities should not assume a single climate message will carry across both.
How This Insight Was Generated: This analysis draws on insights from a GlobeScan public opinion survey conducted online among 32,102 respondents across 33 markets in July and August 2026.
Survey Question: How much are you personally affected by each of the following? [Climate change or global warming]
