Around 75,000 people from 77 countries have participated in a macro survey focused on global warming, sponsored by the UN and developed by a team from the University of Oxford. And the result of the “largest public opinion survey on climate change in history”, as presented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), urges governments to take more robust measures. Also to quickly leave fossil fuels behind to replace them with renewable energies.
“The first very clear and unambiguous message is that a large majority, 80% of those surveyed, really want their countries to strengthen their commitments to address climate change,” explains UNDP administrator Achim Steiner. “This happens all over the world,” adds the head of this UN agency.
When asked “should your country strengthen or weaken its commitments to address climate change?”, eight out of ten respondents favor toughening them. In general, there are not many differences between regions in this section, although there are between countries. In Spain, 86% of those surveyed propose strengthening commitments, as in Colombia. That percentage rises to 88% in the case of Mexico and drops somewhat in Argentina, to 83%.
The responses obtained in the United States and Canada are striking, where 66% of those surveyed who propose toughening the measures, the same as in Russia. In Germany, they account for 67%. In the two most populous countries in the world, India and China, this percentage reaches 77% and 73%, respectively.
For Steiner, the head of the UNDP, the answer that surprised him the most is that 86% of those surveyed around the world are in favor of countries putting aside their differences and cooperating on climate change. Because it occurs in a context of conflicts between blocs and a record number of wars spread throughout the planet, as shown by the Global Peace Index prepared annually by the think tank Institute for Economics & Peace. Four out of five (84%) of the people surveyed from the G-20 group are in this position of collaboration, highlighting the case of Mexico (95%), as well as France and Italy (93%). Furthermore, population groups with more education are more supportive of international cooperation, according to the report.
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The questions for this work began to be asked in September 2023 and the process concluded in May of this year, according to Stephen Fisher, who has led the team at the University of Oxford in charge of processing the data. The survey consists of 15 questions and was carried out by telephone by randomly calling mobile phones in the 77 selected countries, added this sociology professor from the British institution. 87% of the world’s population lives in these 77 States.
The survey also made a direct reference to those mainly responsible for climate change: fossil fuels. To the question “how quickly should your country replace coal, oil and gas with renewable energy, such as wind or solar?”, 72% answered fast or very fast. And only 7% consider that they should not be replaced.
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For Cassie Flynn, global director of climate change at UNDP, it is striking that even the ten main oil, gas and coal producing countries are also convinced that this transition must be made. In Flynn’s opinion, people, even those who live in economies that have been built on fossil fuels, think that given the magnitude of the climate crisis there should be “a shift toward clean energy.” This is believed by 89% of respondents in Nigeria and Turkey, 80% in China, 76% in Germany, 75% in Saudi Arabia, 69% in Australia and 54% in the United States. On the opposite side are Iraq and Russia, where only 43% and 16%, respectively, are committed to undertaking this transition quickly or very quickly. In Spain, 77% of those surveyed opt for this route.
Worry
“Extreme events are part of our daily lives now,” explains Flynn. “From wildfires in Canada and droughts in East Africa, to floods in the United Arab Emirates and Brazil. People are experiencing the climate crisis,” she adds. And this is reflected in the survey responses. For example, half (53%) of people surveyed said they were more worried about climate change than a year ago, while only 15% said they were less worried. The countries with the highest percentages on this question are Fiji (80%), Afghanistan (78%), and Mexico and Turkey (77% each). Saudi Arabia, with 53%, is the one with the lowest data in this section.
More than half (56%) of people around the world say they think about climate change on a daily or weekly basis. While only 11% never think about this issue. By country, where the highest results appear are Uganda (62%), Sudan (61%) and El Salvador (56%). On the other hand, where more people have been found who never think about climate change are Jordan (27%), Saudi Arabia (26%) and the United States (24%).
Flynn also highlights how the population has “integrated the climate crisis into their daily thinking” and into their life decisions. “How much has climate change affected your family’s important decisions, like where to live or work, or what to buy?” he asked the 75,000 respondents. And more than two-thirds (69%) said it has affected them somewhat or a lot. This figure was notably higher in developing countries: 74%. It makes sense, because the States with fewer resources are where there is more of the population vulnerable to the effects of climate change. 91% of respondents in Afghanistan and 88% in Niger said their important decisions are affected by global warming.
Climate change not only causes an increase in average temperatures, it is also behind the increase in extreme weather events, such as heat waves and floods. Almost half of those surveyed (43%) said that extreme weather events were worse than usual compared to the previous year. And among all the countries, three stand out at the top: Algeria (74%), Spain (73%) and Turkey (72%).
“The results of this unprecedented survey reveal a truly astonishing level of consensus. We urge leaders and policymakers to take them into account,” concludes Steiner, the head of UNDP.
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The survey is titled Popular Vote for Climate 2024 and is the second edition of this survey carried out by the UNDP. However, it differs quite a bit from the first, which took place in 2021. On that occasion, people from 50 countries were questioned, but through advertisements in popular mobile gaming applications. As the method has changed, the questions and answers are not comparable, says this UN agency. In this edition, the international survey company GeoPoll asked 15 questions through random mobile phone calls. “Randomization meant that almost everyone with a phone in any country had the opportunity to participate, whereas, in the previous survey, people needed a broadband connection. No person could participate without being selected at random, and no one was able to participate more than once,” explains the UNDP.
More than 10% (9,321 people) of the total sample were people who have never been to school. Of them, 1,241 were women over 60 years of age who never attended school. These are some of the most difficult groups to survey. In nine of the 77 countries surveyed, people had never been surveyed about climate change.
In the region of Sub-Saharan Africa Interviews were conducted in Benin, Burkina Faso, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. In the region of Latin America Interviews were conducted in Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Peru. In the region of the Arab states Interviews were conducted in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Tunisia. In the region of Western Europe Interviews were conducted in France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. In the region of Asia and Oceania Interviews were conducted in Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, South Korea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka and Vanuatu. In the region of North America Interviews were conducted in the United States and Canada.
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