Climate change opinion by country

People in Africa are relatively concerned about climate change compared to the Middle East and parts of Asia. However, they are less concerned than most of Latin America and Europe. Currently, 61% of people in Africa consider climate change to be a very serious problem, and 52% believe that climate change is harming people now. While 59% of Africans are worried about droughts or water shortages, only 16% are concerned about severe weather, and 3% are concerned about rising sea levels.[1] Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are especially troubled about increasing desertification even as they account for .04% of global carbon dioxide emissions.[2] In Sub-Saharan Africa, the concern over climate change drops to only 34% of the population considering climate change to be a "very" or "somewhat serious issue".[3] Even so, according to the Pew Research Center 2015 Global Attitudes Survey, some particular countries are more concerned than others. In Uganda 79% of people, 68% in Ghana, 45% in South Africa and 40% in Ethiopia consider climate change to be a very serious problem.[1]

Latin America has a larger percentage of people concerned with climate change than other regions of the world. 74% consider climate change to be a serious problem and 77% say that it is harming people now which is 20 points higher than the global median according to the Pew Research Center.[1] 63% of people in Latin America are very concerned that climate change will harm them personally.[1] When looked at more specifically, Mexico and Central America are the most worried at 81.5% believing that climate change is a very serious issue. South America is slightly less anxious at 75% and the Caribbean, at the relatively high rate of 66.7%, is the least concerned.[4] Brazil is an important country in global climate change politics because it is the eleventh largest emitter and unlike other large emitter countries, 86% consider global warming to be a very serious problem.[1][5] Compared to the rest of the world, Latin America is more consistently concerned with high percentages of the population worried about climate change. Further, in Latin America, 67% believe in personal responsibility for climate change and say that people will have to make major lifestyle modifications.[1]

Europeans have a tendency to be more concerned about climate change than much of the world, with the exception of Latin America. However there is a divide between Eastern Europe, where people are less worried about climate change, and Western Europe. In Europe, there is a range from 88% to 97% of people feeling that climate change is happening and similar ranges are present for agreeing that climate change is caused by human activity and that the impacts of it will be bad.[5] Generally Eastern European countries are slightly less likely to believe in climate change, or the dangers of it, with 63% saying it is very serious, 24% considering it to be fairly serious and only 10% saying it is not a serious problem.[6] When asked if they feel a personal responsibility to help reduce climate change, on a scale of 0, not at all, to 10, a great deal, Europeans respond with the average score of 5.6.[5] When looked at more specifically, Western Europeans are closer to the response of 7 while Eastern European countries respond with an average of less than 4. When asked if Europeans are willing to pay more for climate change, 49% are willing, however only 9% of Europeans have already switched to a greener energy supply.[6] Thus, while a large majority of Europeans believe in the dangers of climate change, their feelings of personal responsibility to deal with the issue are much more limited. Especially in terms of actions that could already have been taken - such as having already switched to greener energies discussed above - one can see Europeans' feelings of personal responsibility are limited.

Asia and the Pacific have a tendency to be less concerned about climate change, except small island states, with developing countries in Asia being less concerned than developed countries. In Asia and the Pacific, around 45% of people believe that climate change is a very serious problem and similarly 48% believe that it is harming people now.[1] Only 37% of people in Asia and the Pacific are very concerned that climate change will harm them personally.[1] There is a large gap between developing Asia and developed Asia. Only 31% of developing Asia considers global warming to be a "very" or "somewhat" serious threat and 74% of developed Asia considers global warming to be a serious threat.[3] It could be argued that one reason for this is that people in more developed countries in Asia are more educated on the issues, especially given that developing countries in Asia do face significant threats from climate change. The most relevant views on climate change are those of the citizens in the countries that are emitting the most. For example, in China, the world's largest emitter,[7] 68% of Chinese people are satisfied with their government's efforts to preserve the environment.[8] And in India, the world's third largest emitter,[7] 77% of Indian people are satisfied with their country's efforts to preserve the environment.[8]

While the increasing severity of droughts and other dangerous realities are and will continue to be a problem in the Middle East, the region has one of the smallest rates of concern in the world. 38% believe that climate change is a very serious problem and 26% believe that climate change is harming people now.[1] Of the four Middle Eastern countries polled in a Pew Global Study, on what is their primary concern, Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon named ISIS, and Turkey stated United States encroachment.[9] 38% of Israel considers climate change to be a major threat to their country, 40% of Jordan, 58% of Lebanon and 53% of Turkey.[9] This is compared to relatively high numbers of residents who believe that ISIS is a major threat to their country ranging from 63% to 97%. In the poll, 38% of the Middle East are concerned about drought and 19% are concerned about long periods of unusually hot weather.[1] 42% are satisfied with their own country's current efforts to preserve the environment.[8]

North America has mixed perceptions on climate change ranging from Mexico and Canada that are both more concerned, and the United States, the world's second largest emitter,[7] that is less concerned. Mexico is the most concerned about climate change of the three countries in North America. 90% consider climate change to be a very serious problem and 83% believe that climate change is harming people substantially right now.[10] Canadians are also seriously concerned, 20% are extremely concerned, 30% are definitely concerned, 31% are somewhat concerned and only 19% are not very/not at all concerned about climate change.[11] While the United States which is the largest emitter of CO2 in North America and the second largest emitter of CO2 in the world[7] has the lowest degrees of concern about climate change in North America. While 61% of Americans say they are concerned about climate change,[12] that is 30% lower than Mexico and 20% lower than Canada. 41% believe that climate change could impact them personally. Nonetheless, 70% of Americans believe that environmental protections are more important than economic growth according to a Yale climate opinion study.[12]

While climate change will affect the entire world, opinion differences between regions of the world about these affects vary significantly. The Middle East has one of the smallest rates of concern in the world, especially compared to Latin America.[1] Europe and Africa have mixed views on climate change but lean towards action by a significant degree. Europeans focus substantially on climate change when compared to United States residents, which are less concerned than the global median,[12] even as the United States is the second biggest emitter in the world.[7] Droughts/water shortages are one of the biggest fears about the impacts of climate change, especially in Latin America and Africa.[1] Developed countries in Asia have levels of concern about climate change similar to Latin America which has one of the highest rates of concern. This is surprising as developing countries in Asia have levels of worry similar to the Middle East, one of the areas with the lowest levels of concern.[3] Large emitters such as China usually ignore issues surrounding climate change as people in China have very low levels of concern about it.[3] The only significant exception to this tendency by large emitters, is Brazil. Brazil is eleventh biggest emitter in the world and is a country that has high levels of concern about climate change, levels similar to much of Latin America.[1][7]

Source: Pew Research Center's Spring 2015 Global Attitudes Survey - Q32, Q41 & Q42

Source: Pew Research Center's Spring 2015 Global Attitudes Survey - Q32