People are more worried than ever about climate change, with the perceived seriousness reaching unprecedented levels. Four in ten people say they do not want or would not want to have children because of the effects of climate change, according to a new global poll conducted in June and July of 2022.
Key findings include:
- Sixty-five percent of people across the world now say that climate change is a “very serious” issue, the highest level ever recorded since tracking began in 2002 and up year-on-year since 2014 (when 45% of people across the same tracking countries said that climate change was “very serious”).
- Thirty-seven percent of people now say that they are personally “greatly affected” by climate change (up from 31% in 2020 across 26 countries and territories tracked).
- Four in ten people (40%) cite the effects of climate change as a deterrent to having children, with those under 30 significantly more likely than those over 30 to agree (44% vs 39%, respectively). Those who say they are personally affected by climate change are also more likely to not want to have children because of climate change than those who are not affected (44% vs 28%, respectively).
- Majorities in Egypt (61%), South Korea (59%), Turkey (54%), Hong Kong (53%), India (52%), and Thailand (51%) agree that they do not or would not want to have children because of the effects of climate change. In contrast, people in Kenya (23%) and Indonesia (18%) are much less likely to agree with the notion.
- Eighty-five percent of people globally agree that poor people will suffer the most from the impact of climate change. People in the USA are the least likely to say that poor people will be the most affected, although three-quarters still agree (74%).
The research reveals unprecedented anxiety about climate change among the global public as the effects are increasingly being felt on a personal level. There is also an acute awareness of the injustice of poor people suffering the most. Public pressure for more drastic action on climate change will only grow over time.
For more information, please contact:
Stacy Rowland, Director of PR & Communications, GlobeScan, Tel: +1 416 992 2705, stacy.rowland@globescan.com
Methodology Summary
The GlobeScan Radar survey is a global survey conducted online among samples of 1,000 adults in each of 31 countries and territories (500 each in Hong Kong, Kenya, Nigeria, and Singapore, and 850 in Egypt), weighted to reflect general population census data. The research was conducted during June and July of 2022 with a total of 29,293 participants.
Participating markets include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Peru, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, the UK, the USA, and Vietnam.
