- Across nine middle-income countries surveyed, majorities of adults say they would be willing to make changes to how they live and work to help reduce the effects of climate change. Younger people and those with more education are particularly likely to say this.
- A median of 62% are confident that actions taken by the international community will significantly reduce the effects of global climate change.
- Most adults surveyed say that a country’s carbon emissions, as opposed to its wealth, is the more important factor in deciding how much that country should do to address global climate change.
Are people willing to change their lifestyle?
Most adults surveyed are willing to change their lifestyles to combat the effects of climate change. A median of 80% of adults across nine countries surveyed say they would be willing to make at least some changes to how they live and work to help reduce these effects.
Furthermore, around half of adults in Kenya (53%), Argentina (52%), Brazil (47%) and Indonesia (47%) would be willing to make a lot of changes.
Turks are the least likely to express such willingness, though a majority still do: 57% would be willing to make at least some changes to their lifestyles to help reduce the effects of climate change, including 17% who say they would be willing to make a lot of changes.
Views by age
Younger adults are more likely than older adults in most of the middle-income countries surveyed to say they would be willing to make at least some changes to their lifestyle to help reduce the effects of climate change.
For example, around two-thirds of Turks ages 18 to 34 would make at least some changes, compared with fewer than half of Turks ages 50 and older (64% vs. 45%).
Views by education
In almost every country, adults with at least an upper secondary education are more likely than those with less education to say they would make at least some changes to their lifestyle to reduce the effects of climate change. Still, large shares in both groups say they would be willing to do this.
For instance, 87% of Brazilians with an upper secondary education or more would be willing to make such changes, compared with 72% among those who have less education. (In some countries, including Brazil, those with less education were less likely to answer the question.)
Views by concern about personal harm from climate change
Adults who are concerned that climate change will hurt them personally are more likely to say they are willing to make changes to how they live and work to reduce the effects of climate change.
In some places, however, most of those who are not very or not at all concerned about personal harm from climate change are still willing to make at least some changes to their lives to combat its effects. This includes majorities of adults who are not concerned about personal herm in Mexico (70%), India (60%) and Kenya (60%).
Views among those who say climate change is affecting their area
In all nine countries, those who say climate change is affecting the area where they live are more likely to say they are willing to make a lot of changes to how they live and work.
For example, in Argentina, those who say climate change is affecting their local community are more likely than their counterparts to say they would make a lot of changes (57% vs. 28%). Gaps exceeding 20 points are also seen in Indonesia (+25), Brazil (+25) and Mexico (+24).
Confidence in actions of the international community
The share of adults who are confident that actions taken by the international community will significantly reduce the effects of global climate change varies widely across the nine middle-income countries surveyed.
In six of the nine countries surveyed, a majority of adults express confidence. For instance, seven-in-ten adults or more in Indonesia, Kenya and India are confident that actions taken by the global community will significantly decrease the impacts of climate change, including about a quarter of adults in these countries who are very confident.
But in Argentina, Mexico and Turkey, fewer than half voice confidence. For example, 42% of Turks are confident, including just 7% who are very confident.
Views by UN favorability
One major international actor is the United Nations, which has been targeting environmental issues since the 1970s. In six of the nine countries surveyed, people with a favorable view of the UN are more likely than others to have confidence that actions taken by the international community will reduce the effects of climate change.
For instance, 55% of Argentines with a favorable view of the UN are confident in actions from the global community, compared with 30% of those with an unfavorable view. (In India, people with an unfavorable view of the UN were less likely to answer the question.)
Which should determine a country’s responsibility for climate action: its wealth or its emissions?
Across nine middle-income countries, people are more likely to say that a country’s carbon emissions should matter more than its wealth in deciding how much it should do to address global climate change.
In seven nations, at least half express this view. Turks are more divided: 46% say a country’s carbon emissions should matter more, while 43% say national wealth should matter more.
Indians are about as likely to not answer the question (33%) as they are to say a country’s wealth should matter more in deciding how much it does to address climate change (30%).
Views by age
In some countries, younger adults are more likely than older adults to say carbon emissions should matter more than national wealth in deciding how much a country should do to address climate change.
For example, 74% of Indonesians ages 18 to 34 say carbon emissions are the more important factor, compared with 58% of those ages 50 and older. (In many countries, including Indonesia, older adults were less likely to answer the question.)
