Analyzing the People’s Climate Vote 2024

Analyzing the People’s Climate Vote 2024

RITURAJ PHUKAN

A vast majority of people around the world are worried about climate change and want their countries to do more, the Peoples’ Climate Vote 2024 has revealed.

The majority of those surveyed in almost every country also supported a fast transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

The major findings of The Peoples’ Climate Vote 2024 are presented in four sections: The Peoples’ Perspective shares findings on the lived experience of climate change, such as how climate change impacts people’s daily lives.

The Peoples’ Stocktake shows how people perceive climate action already being undertaken. The third section, Peoples’ Priorities, highlights what climate action people want their countries to take. The final section, Peoples’ Call for Collaboration, outlines how people want countries to work together on climate.

The People’s Perspective

Against a backdrop of record-breaking heat and climate impacts, a majority of people globally, and in 80 percent of the countries surveyed, are becoming more worried about climate change. The Peoples’ Climate Vote 2024 found over half (53 percent) of people globally said they were more worried about climate change than they were last year – compared with 15 percent of people who said that they were less worried.

There was a mounting concern about climate change in Least Developed Countries (LDCs), where six in ten (59 percent) people said they were more worried about climate change than they were last year. This is compared to half (50 percent) of people in G20 countries.

The countries where the most people were becoming more worried about climate change were Fiji (80 percent), Afghanistan (78 percent), Mexico and Türkiye (77 percent), while the country where the most people were becoming less worried about climate change was Saudi Arabia (53 percent).

Women were more likely than men to be increasingly worried about climate change over the last year (55 percent of women compared to 51 percent of men). Across all the regions of the world, women in Latin America and the Caribbean were most likely to say they have become more worried about climate change.

The Peoples’ Climate Vote 2024 found that older generations have become more worried about climate change. A majority of all age groups reported that they have become increasingly worried about climate change.

Over half (56 percent) of people globally said they have thought about climate change daily or weekly. Only around one in ten (11 percent) people said they never thought about climate change. Women were more likely to think about climate change daily or weekly, compared to men. Globally, 57 percent of women said they thought about climate change at least weekly, compared to 55 percent of men.

Big life decisions are impacted by climate change as extreme weather events continue to increase around the world. For over two-thirds of the world’s population (69 percent), these experiences have impacted people’s big decisions, such as where to live or work and what to buy.

This figure was notably higher in LDCs (74 percent) where climate impacts on big decisions tended to be greater, and in the climate-vulnerable Small Island Developing States (SIDS) were the most likely regional or economic grouping to say their big decisions were being affected by climate change (80 percent).

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Globally, nearly half (43 percent) of people said extreme weather events were worse than usual, compared with the previous year.

The Peoples’ Stocktake

Across the world, approximately half of the people surveyed said they thought their countries were doing well, compared with a quarter of respondents who said they were doing badly. Again, Women tended to be less satisfied with their country’s efforts on climate change.

People are unconvinced by big businesses’ climate efforts and just over one in three people globally said they think big businesses are doing well on addressing climate change. Countries in Asia and the Pacific had the highest level of approval of businesses’ efforts to address climate change, at nearly half of the people surveyed.

In 89 percent of countries surveyed, more people said their government has had the biggest impact addressing climate change than any other group, averaging 43 percent of people globally. Around the world, people also acknowledged the impactful role of other groups in addressing climate change, such as big businesses (14 percent), the United Nations (13 percent) and campaigners and activists (12 percent).

The Peoples’ Priorities

The majority of people want their countries to strengthen climate commitments. Globally, four in every five people (80 percent) called for their country to strengthen its commitments to address climate change. People in more climate vulnerable regions overwhelmingly called for stronger commitments, with nine in ten (89 percent) of people in LDCs wanting their country to strengthen its commitments to address climate change. Even among G20 countries, three in four people (76 percent) wanted stronger commitments.

People who said their country was doing well to address climate change still wanted stronger climate commitments. While there were large numbers of people who thought their countries were doing well or very well on climate change, further analysis of the results of the Peoples’ Climate Vote 2024 found that 82 percent of such people also wanted their countries to strengthen their commitments to climate action.

Globally, 72 percent of people want their country to transition quickly from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy. Within 85 percent of countries (62 countries), a majority supported a quick transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy.

Majorities in the world’s 10 biggest oil, gas and coal-producing countries said they supported a fast transition away from fossil fuels, with the exceptions of Iraq (43 percent) and Russia (16 percent).Eastern Europe and Central Asia and Northern America were the least supportive of a quick transition away from fossil fuels.

Safeguarding communities against extreme weather events was cited by a majority of people around the world as a priority. Nearly eight in ten (78 percent) people globally wanted their country to provide more protection for people at risk of extreme weather impacts. People in LDCs were more likely than those in other countries to support greater protection for those at risk (89 percent).

As climate change worsens the existing nature and biodiversity crises, protecting nature emerged as a priority for people globally. Four in five (81 percent) people globally said their country should do a lot to protect and restore nature. On climate change education, eight in ten (80 percent) of people globally called on schools in their country to teach more about climate change.

The Peoples’ Call for Collaboration

A huge majority (86 percent) of people globally said countries should put their disagreements aside and work together on addressing climate change. This included four out of five (84 percent) people in the G20, and large majorities of people surveyed in the European Union.

The Peoples’ Climate Vote 2024 found consistently high support for richer countries giving more help to poorer countries to address climate change. Over three in four people (79 percent) globally called for more help, as well as a majority of people in every country surveyed.

The Indian Response

In India, 81 percent of respondents were worried about the effects of climate change on the next generation, with the majority among them being very (33%) to extremely (9%) worried. Over half of the Indian responses admitted being more worried about climate change than last year.

Nearly 80% of the participants from India felt that countries should work together on climate change even if they disagree on other issues. Similarly, over 75 percent felt that rich countries should provide more help to poorer countries to address climate change.

More than one-third of individuals felt that extreme weather events such as, droughts, flooding, storms, and extreme heat or cold are now worse than usual. To another related question, over 75 percent of the respondents felt that people at risk from extreme weather events, such as storms or extreme heat should be provided more protection by the government.

The Peoples’ Climate Vote 2024 is the second edition of the Peoples’ Climate Vote survey, carried out by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the University of Oxford. Over 73,000 people were surveyed in 77 countries, representing 87 percent of the world’s population, across eight months.

Rituraj Phukan is the Climate Editor of MAHABAHU and an Internationally acclaimed Climate Activist

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