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• Climate, Poverty, and Conflict Dominate Public Concern as COP30 Wraps Up

  

  Key Takeaways

  • Three issues dominate: Climate change, extreme poverty, and war/conflict rank highest on both seriousness and importance, making them the most urgent global priorities for citizens globally.
  • Interconnected crises: Climate change worsens poverty and resource scarcity, potentially fueling instability and conflict. War undermines climate resilience and poverty alleviation, creating a cycle that demands coordinated responses.
  • Public expectations: As COP30 nears its conclusion, citizens expect ambition that goes beyond climate alone. Progress may be constrained by competing priorities and geopolitical tensions, making integrated solutions across climate, poverty, and conflict essential.

  As COP30 enters its final days in Brazil – the first COP in the Amazon region and marking the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement – the world’s attention is on climate action. Yet public priorities extend beyond climate alone. GlobeScan’s latest research across 33 countries and territories reveals that climate change, extreme poverty, and war/conflict dominate global concerns, ranking highest in both perceived seriousness and importance to address.

  War and conflict tops the list for seriousness (68%), while climate change and extreme poverty are tied for first place in importance (41%). These crises are deeply interconnected: climate change drives resource scarcity and displacement, hitting the poorest the hardest and fueling instability. Poverty and inequality create conditions for conflict, while war undermines efforts to build climate resilience and economic security. Other issues, such as corruption, water pollution, and hunger also rank high on perceived seriousness but fall behind on importance compared to the top three. This underscores the unique urgency of climate, poverty, and conflict as a combined global challenge.

  WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

  As COP30 nears its conclusion, expectations for bold climate commitments are high, but progress may be constrained by competing priorities and geopolitical tensions. These interconnected crises make negotiations harder, as countries balance climate ambition with urgent social and security concerns. Public opinion signals that ambition cannot be siloed. Integrated strategies that address climate, poverty, and conflict together will be critical to achieving global aspirations moving forward.

  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. And which of these global problems do you think are most important to address?

  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.

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