Belief In Human Driven Climate Change At Record High

Belief in climate change is a widespread concern held by many and billions want something to be done about it.

A 2019 international YouGov poll surveying 30,000 people collected opinions on – ‘That climate change is happening and that humanity is at least partly responsible is a view held by the majority across the world’.

Indians were recorded to be most concerned about this statement at 71%. Norwegians and Saudi Arabians were least concerned at 35%. 51% of Britons held the belief that climate change was caused by human activity.

An updated August 2020 YouGov poll on ‘Belief in climate change’ in Britain catalogued a 70% acceptance that anthropogenic climate change is happening. Down 7% from June 2020. YouGov findings also reflect this sentiment in another poll, where two thirds of businesses say they have a plan to meet a carbon-neutral target.

Ipsos Mori collected a similar result recording a 66% concern for climate in a poll titled ‘Seriousness of climate change in comparison to COVID-19’. The world polled at 71% based on sample sizes of 1000+ individuals per country.

Ipsos Mori said “It is clear that while we deal with the Coronavirus crisis, Britons are still concerned with the environmental issues facing the world and the country. And whilst a majority say they want the environment prioritised in the economic recovery, people in Britain are divided (almost equally) on whether or not the government should take actions which might harm the environment to help the economy recover”

More recently, a report was conducted by Vattenfall released this month with a sample size of 7,220 adults between the period 18th November to 2nd December 2019. It largely tackled the idea of climate change in the media and found 37% of respondents believed the sentiment of climate change in the media was positive, 23 % was negative and 38% was factually negative.

“Our research has confirmed the widespread recognition of the climate emergency we face, with the issue being seen as the most important problem for humanity to address”

They remarked that positive action will lead to results as “…negative coverage becomes overwhelming, it can lead not only to eco-anxiety, but also to feelings of individual powerlessness and a reduced tendency to take action”.