Shifting Global Attitudes Toward Clean Technologies
The global clean technology landscape is evolving rapidly, shaped by affordability, shifting consumer preferences, and growing global competition.
This new report from GlobeScan and Chatham House explores public attitudes toward solar panels and electric vehicles (EVs), including willingness to consider Chinese-made technologies and support for governments purchasing clean technologies from China. Based on research with 32,106 adults across 33 countries, and building on our 2025 research, the findings reveal how consumer preferences are shifting across regions, countries, and generations.
The research points to growing consumer openness to Chinese-made clean technologies in several major markets, while fewer consumers say that the cost of solar panels and EVs is a barrier. The findings highlight what these shifts mean for businesses and policymakers navigating changing consumer demand and an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape for clean technologies.
Key Highlights
- Affordability barriers are easing, but disinterest is growing. Fewer consumers say solar panels and EVs are unaffordable compared with 2025, while a growing number say they are not interested, particularly in EVs.
- Interest in clean technologies remains particularly strong in the Global South. Interest in solar panels is high, while affordability remains an important barrier to EV uptake in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and MENA.
- More than half of consumers would consider Chinese-made clean technologies. Globally, 56 percent would consider buying Chinese-made solar panels, and 53 percent would consider a Chinese-made EV.
- Interest in Chinese-made clean technologies is rising in several major markets. Since 2025, the likelihood of buying a Chinese-made EV has increased by 13 percentage points in Germany, 12 points in Canada, 9 points in the Netherlands, and 7 points in the UK. Interest in Chinese-made solar panels has also risen across several European markets and Canada.
- Public support for government purchases of Chinese-made clean technologies remains high. Sixty-eight percent support their governments buying Chinese-made clean technologies when they are cheaper and offer the same or better performance, with particularly strong support in Sub-Saharan Africa, MENA, and Latin America
Read last year’s report
Chatham House is a world-leading policy institute with a mission to address geopolitical challenges and international problems. Through this, we aim to help governments and societies to build a secure, sustainable, prosperous and just world.
