People and Climate Change
Welcome to the Ipsos People and Climate Change report which explores perceptions of the risks facing us from the climate crisis as well as attitudes to the energy transition.
Three of the last four years have been the hottest on record. Yet the individual desire to act on climate change has fallen over the same period. That tension sits at the heart of this report.
What the data tells us is not a story of apathy. People still believe action is needed —in 28 of 31 countries, a majority say individuals must do more. But exhaustion is setting in, and expectations are shifting. Citizens are increasingly looking to governments and businesses to lead.
In the U.S., this manifests as a shift toward pragmatic resilience. While extreme weather and the rising costs of energy, housing, and insurance are driving anxiety, they are also aligning Americans around shared values.
This year's report covers the full landscape of that shift: from changing consumer values to the growing conditionality around the energy transition, and what rising geopolitical instability means for our relationship with fossil fuels.
Most of the fieldwork was completed before the current conflict in Iran, yet its effects are already visible in the data — sharpening anxieties about energy dependence and raising urgent questions about whether this moment accelerates the transition to cleaner energy or stalls it.
We explore what this means for electric vehicle uptake, why values-based shopping is proving more resilient than many expected, and how cost of living and conflict are reshaping public attitudes in ways that matter for business, policy and society.
This document contains headline data from the study. For the full question set and country-level data, please get in touch.
Contact: Janelle James
Key findings
As temperatures rise, the individual responsibility to act has fallen. The past 11 years have been the warmest in the modern era, but people increasingly place less responsibility in needing to act. In the last five years, all countries surveyed in this 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.
Short-term fear is countering long-term preparation. While climate concern remains present – 59% on average across 31 countries say they country should be doing more in the fight against climate change - more immediate risks are seen as greater priorities. Our What Worries the World survey finds concern about climate change in 11th place, behind more tangible, immediate worries issues like crime, unemployment, and inflation.
The energy transition is at a crossroads. Public support for transitioning to clean energy is increasingly conditional, contingent on affordability, reliability, and security trade-offs. The Ipsos Energy Transition Barometer finds one in two (50% across 31 countries) support governments prioritizing low energy prices even if emissions increase.
Values-based shopping is growing despite price pressures and political backlash. 56% of Americans and 62% of Canadians say price influenced their shopping more in 2025. At the same time, The Conscious Consumer Index rose from 38% to 40%, with a growing share of purchasers in North America now factoring in sustainability considerations when shopping.
The quiet integration of ESG. Fear of backlash has led companies toward an approach of ‘strategic silence’ - just 21% of Ipsos Reputation Council Members prefer to speak out on potentially divisive issues. However, behind the scenes, ESG continues to be embedded throughout business. 81% of Council Members agree that ESG initiatives provide a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining new talent, and 60% agree that poor ESG performance now has material consequences.
