The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) collaborated with Oxford University to survey 1.2 million people in multiple countries to get their opinion on climate change. Described as one of the largest surveys of public opinion, it covered over 50 high, middle, and low-income countries, accounting for more than half of the world's population. It also captured the views of over half a million people under the age of 18 which they claimed was a demographic that was hard to reach.

The findings revealed that nearly two-thirds of people or 64% of people believe that climate change is a "global emergency”. 59% of the people who believed climate change is a global emergency said that the world should act urgently and do everything necessary, 20% responded that they were in favour of acting slowly and 10% thought enough was already being done.

The most concerned with climate change was the younger audience between 14-18 years of age, of which 69% felt that it's a global emergency. About two-thirds of the people aged between 18 to 60 felt that it was an emergency and only 58% of those over 60 were concerned about climate change.

The survey also asked the public their opinion on 18 policy options across six areas - energy, transportation, economy, farms, and food, protecting people and nature. 54% of the respondents favoured conservation of forests and land, 53% favoured an increase in the use of renewable energy, 52% backed that farming should implement climate-friendly practices, while 50% of respondents felt that there should be more investments in green business and jobs. The least vote was given to plant-based diets which were about 30% of the respondents.

Respondents in high emission emitting countries such as the United States, Australia and Canada called for the use of renewal energy, while those in countries like Brazil, Indonesia, and Argentina which have high emissions from deforestation, backed strong action to conserve forests and land.

The UNDP stated that the survey clearly shows how people across countries, gender, ages, and levels of education all see climate change as a global emergency and want urgent action.

Some of the other findings of the survey revealed that the highest support for climate action was at a staggering 74% and received from respondents in small developing island states. The next highest was at 72% from respondents in high-income countries followed by 62% from respondents in middle-income countries. The lowest support of 58% was received from respondents in the least developed countries. Going by region, the UNDP found that a majority of people across all regions felt that climate change was a global emergency, with the highest being at 72% in Western Europe and North America and the lowest being at 61% in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The survey found that irrespective of where a person lived, the more a person’s level of education, the more likely they were to think of climate change as an emergency.

Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/27/world/un-climate-poll-global-emergency-intl/index.html