People and Climate Change - The NZ Edition
The last 11 years have been the warmest in the modern era, according to the UN Weather Agency. Despite the rising temperatures, the individual need to act towards climate change is lower than the start of the decade. In the last five years, most countries surveyed in the People and Climate Change report in both 2021 and 2026 have seen falls in the proportion who agree that individuals would be failing future generations by not acting against climate change. New Zealanders have remained stable on this point outside of 2023.
However globally, while fewer feel the responsibility to act than 2021, in all countries surveyed this year, including New Zealand, people are more likely to think individuals need to do something than not. In fact, the number of New Zealanders who believe we should do more has increased over the last two years. There is a perceived lack of leadership from governments around the world on the problem, more so in New Zealand. Few think their country is a world leader in tackling climate change.
Across 31 countries 27% agree their country is a world leader, while 34% disagree. G7 countries don’t fare any better with only 25% thinking their country is leading the way on climate change (35% disagree). A mere 6% in the G7 strongly agree their country is a world leader. There is strong belief across the countries surveyed their country could be taking greater action. On average 59% think their country should be doing more, with 15% disagreeing that more action is needed.
