What will be the legacy of the hottest summer on record?

Key moments from the discussion: the 3-minute read

Sue Phillips, Chief Sustainability Officer, Ipsos

This isn't weather, this is climate change live on every continent in real time.

According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), July has just tied as the joint warmest July on record globally.

That's not a one-off. The ten warmest Julys ever recorded have all happened since 2016, and the last four years alone hold the top four spots.

In Europe, it's not one heatwave, it's the fifth heatwave we've had this summer. Firefighters from France to Britain to Croatia are fighting blazes fed by heat and drought, while in Japan, record-breaking rains have triggered landslides, power outages and floods.

The question is: will 2026 be the tipping point for people to acknowledge the impact of climate change and that its cost is now directly related to our own cost of living?”

When climate change stops feeling distant

Simon Atkinson, Chief Knowledge Officer, Ipsos

People really are feeling it. Three in four are saying they can see the impact of these changes in the weather in their own country. The same proportion, three in four, are saying they feel vulnerable. 

Climate change often gets squeezed out by more pressing, everyday issues people worry about, like cost of living, housing and crime. But we're starting to see some change in the numbers. In France, we've seen a very significant 14-point rise in the proportion of people saying climate change is a big issue for my country.

We don't know yet where this is going to go, but we are starting to see a shift.

As individuals, we still feel that we have a role to play in this. And there can also be an expectation that, if we're taking steps to change, businesses and governments need to as well. Where we see a real pessimism is whether public services in particular are well prepared to help our countries go through this.”

What people are talking about

Felicity Mellish, Head of Activation, Ipsos Synthesio

If we think about the UK, for example, we are seeing some conversations around people's blood tests being cancelled, because they just can't keep the samples cold enough. Others are talking about disrupted rail journeys and adapting working patterns around access to air conditioning.

For hybrid workers, there is this trade-off... where do you get the best air con?

Three per cent of the conversation is actually focused on maggots and the fact that people are finding maggots in their food bins due to the heat that they've not experienced before!

We're also seeing some social tension around the high use of water by big data centres and a sense of big corporations benefiting at public expense."
 

The cost of extreme weather

Janelle James, US Head of Cultural & ESG Intelligence, Ipsos

In many ways, extreme weather is reshaping consumer behavior quietly and in real time.

Among 750 consumers across the U.S., roughly four-in-ten say the financial strain is their top climate worry, eclipsing property damage, power outages, and health risks. The climate financial concerns stem from food inflation and spiking energy costs.

We heard from a dad in Washington state, who told us that climate change is having a huge impact on his family’s overall budget. They’ve had to cut back food expenses, buy alternative things, eat less of some things that they prefer to, and just generally change their diet.

The bottom line for leaders across many consumer sectors is that extreme weather is influencing behaviour directly and indirectly.”