World’s largest survey of public opinion on climate change: a majority of people call for wide-ranging action

UNDP’s “Peoples’ Climate Vote” reflects over half the world’s population after results processed by the University of Oxford. Sixty-four percent of people believe climate change is a global emergency, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

The results of the Peoples’ Climate Vote, the world’s largest-ever survey of public opinion on climate change, are published today by UNDP and the University of Oxford. Covering 50 countries with over half of the world’s population, the results of the vote show that people often want broad climate policies beyond the current state of play — with the most popular being conserving forests and land (54% public support), more solar, wind and renewable power (53%), adopting climate-friendly farming techniques (52%) and investing more in green businesses and jobs (50%).

The survey, part of UNDP’s Climate Promise, was distributed across mobile gaming networks as part of Mission 1.5 — UNDP’s groundbreaking mobile video game that educates people about climate policy and allows them to vote on possible solutions. With 1.2 million respondents, the survey included over half a million people under the age of 18, a key constituency on climate change that is typically unable to vote yet in regular elections. Polling experts at the University of Oxford weighted the survey – to make the sample of survey respondents more representative of statistical populations yielding a small margin of error of +/- 2%. Detailed results broken down by age, gender, and education level will be shared with governments across the globe by UNDP.

2021 is a pivotal year for countries’ climate action commitments, with a key round of negotiations set to take place at the UN Climate Summit in November. You can download the report from this link

UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet.