Against the backdrop of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) Dynata – the world’s largest first-party data platform for insights, activation and measurement – has published a new global report revealing key consumer insights about climate change.
Nearly eight in 10 people globally believe that governments need to act on, and hold one another accountable for, shared climate change goals; furthermore, they believe governments, businesses and individuals can have greater impact if they work together in the fight against climate change.
The stakes for action continue to grow, with 54 per cent of the 12,000 people surveyed saying that a politician’s stance on climate change is a top 3 issue for them at the polls – and seven in 10 feel the climate change response actions of politicians fall short of their words.
These – and other findings – appear in Dynata’s Global Consumer Trends: The Urgent Fight Against Climate Change report, exploring the urgency for governments, businesses, and individuals to join together to respond to climate change. The report also delves further into what actions governments, businesses and individuals can take in response to this growing threat.
Additional highlights from the report include:
- Belief in climate change is high – 84 per cent of people surveyed believe climate change is real, and 69 per cent are “100 per cent sure” or “pretty sure” of this belief.
- People feel an urgency to combat climate change, growing higher in the last five years – Seven in 10 (69 per cent) people globally believe it is “extremely” or “very” urgent to take action to combat climate change; 65 per cent of those calling for action to fight climate change saying that urgency has grown in the last five years.
India, Italy and Spain are amongst those who feel the highest urgency (over 80 per cent each) versus Japan, Australia, China and Canada feel the least urgent to combat climate change (under 65 per cent each) - Time to act for businesses – Climate change believers selected investing in clean energy and sustainable businesses (60 per cent); instituting sustainable business practices (59 per cent); and committing to a net-zero goal for carbon emissions (53 per cent) among the actions they want businesses to take to combat climate change. 35 per cent of climate change believers agree that businesses should hold the government accountable on climate change.
- Individuals can act, too – Climate change believers have specific actions they think others should take, including making “greener” purchase decisions (77 per cent) and choosing more eco-friendly transportation methods (67 per cent). Four in 10 think consumers should take action to influence their government’s climate policies, and 24 per cent call for volunteering with or donating to organizations acting against climate change.
“Climate change is one of the most urgent and pressing issues affecting our world today, and the attention paid to COP26 and other global climate gatherings only underscores that the clock is ticking for meaningful action,” said Gary S. Laben, CEO of Dynata.
“Each of us has a role to play, and Dynata’s role is to use the power of our data and insights to further the conversation around climate change by connecting the voice of consumers with the urgency of this issue. This approach, combined with our other initiatives, including our corporate tree-planting program with Ecosia Trees, underscores our commitment to applying the strength of our data to understanding and addressing the social, economic and policy challenges in the fight against climate change.”
Global Consumer Trends: The Urgent Fight Against Climate Change is available for download on Dynata’s web site and will be shared in a 10th November webinar – register here.