Public More Willing than Politicians to Address Climate Change

With delegates from around the world gathering in Durban, South Africa to discuss the future of the Kyoto Protocol and other climate initiatives, the question looms: What support is there for environmental action in the midst of continuing economic stagnation? An updated digest on “Public Opinion on Global Issues” from IIGG and Worldpublicopinion.org reveals some significant trends in U.S. and international attitudes. The central message is that publics around the world—including in the United States—believe that global warming is an urgent problem and want their governments to make it a higher priority, by taking vigorous national and multilateral actions to confront it.

A few key headlines:

With several important issues on the table at Durban, this data should inspire leaders to hammer out agreements on imperatives that remain unresolved—like financing climate initiatives in the developing world, guidelines for reducing carbon emissions, and mapping the post-Kyoto landscape. With the International Energy Agency calculating that the world has only five years to moderate climate change before surpassing the limit of safety, the international community cannot afford to remain paralyzed.

View the entire digest of World Opinion on the Global Economy at www.cfr.org/public opinion. View key findings and a short introduction at worldpublicopinion.org.