As the world came together in Ottawa, Canada in April of 2024 for the fourth session of the UN-convened Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, GlobeScan’s global public opinion research shows that people across most regions of the world feel that their health is negatively affected by plastics pollution. Based on a broadly representative online survey of nearly 30,000 people across 31 countries and territories, Radar draws upon GlobeScan’s unique database of over two decades of polling public opinion about people’s outlook toward societal actors and the issues affecting them.
Results show that there is a significant difference between North America and other regions in terms of how they feel their personal health is affected by plastics, with as many as seven in ten people in the Latin American countries surveyed saying their health is negatively affected by plastic waste in the environment and ocean compared to just under half in North America (USA and Canada). In Africa and the Middle East, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, around two-thirds of people at least somewhat agree that their health is negatively affected by plastic waste.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Survey Question: Please indicate whether you strongly agree, somewhat agree, neither agree nor disagree, somewhat disagree or strongly disagree with each of the following statements. ‒ My health is negatively affected by plastic waste in the environment and ocean
Source: GlobeScan Radar Trends Report (survey of 29,565 people in the general public across 31 countries and territories in July ‒ August 2023)
