Balancing Energy Security and Climate Action in Asia-Pacific

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, all countries surveyed in our 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. Amongst countries in Asia Pacific Japan (-24pp), South Korea (-18pp) and Australia (-14pp) have seen the biggest falls.

However, this sentiment does not mean that people think it’s too late to make a change on climate change. To the statement climate change are beyond our control, more in Asia Pacific disagree than agree (42% to 31%). Coupled with this is the belief among people across the region that there is more their country could be doing to fight climate change. Across 31 countries around the world, Indonesia (86%) and Thailand (78%) are the most likely to agree with this statement. Among Indonesians agreement is up 18pp compared to 2023.

Even before the current conflict in the Middle East and the resultant rise in the price of energy costs were playing a role in people’s dependence on fossil fuels. In January and early February, a majority in Asia Pacific (52%) felt their country should prioritise keeping energy prices low, even if greenhouse gas emissions increased. Only 17% in the region disagreed with this statement.

In our People and Climate Change report Ipsos experts from across the world explore attitudes to energy security, how the sustainable shopper is still going strong, as well as looking at how the conflict in Iran could affect electric car uptake.