Public Support for International Climate Action: March 2021

Report Summary

Drawing on a nationally representative survey (n = 1,006; including 898 registered voters), this report describes how registered voters in the United States view a variety of policies related to international climate action in order to provide context for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), which is taking place in Glasgow from October 31 – November 12, 2021.

Executive Summary

The 26^th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) will take place in Glasgow Scotland (UK) beginning on October 31, 2021. The two-week conference “will bring [nearly all the countries in the world] together to accelerate action towards the goals of the [2015] Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.” As context for the conference, this report describes how registered voters in the United States view a variety of policies related to international climate action. This survey was fielded from September 10 – 20, 2021, drawing on a representative sample of the U.S. population (n = 1,006; including the 898 registered voters whose data are included in this report). This report is a follow-up to our March 2021 report, which included most of the same survey items as the current report, and was released just prior to President Biden’s Earth-Day Leaders Summit on Climate. It is also a follow-up to the report we released last week, which describes the opinions about domestic climate policies of registered voters in the U.S. This executive summary reports the results from all registered voters, while the report breaks the results down by political party and ideology.

81% think developing countries (such as China, India, and Brazil) should be doing more to address global warming.

66% of registered voters think the United States should be doing more to address global warming.

66% think the United States should reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, regardless of what other countries do, an increase of 5 percentage points since our survey in March 2021.

73% support the U.S. government’s pledge to reduce the nation’s carbon pollution by 50% by the year 2030.

66% support providing financial aid and technical support to developing countries to limit their greenhouse gas emissions (+8 percentage points since March 2021)

61% support providing financial aid and technical support to developing countries to help them prepare for the impacts of global warming (+6 percentage points).

78% support the United States pressuring other countries to reduce their carbon pollution.

74% think other industrialized countries (such as England, Germany, and Japan) should be doing more to address global warming.

Reading Notes

• This report includes only registered voters.
• References to Republicans and Democrats throughout include respondents who initially identify as either a Republican or Democrat, as well as those who do not initially identify as a Republican or Democrat but who say they “are closer to” one of those parties (i.e., “leaners”) in a follow-up question. The category “Independents” does not include any of these “leaners.”
• For tabulation purposes, percentage points are rounded to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given chart may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. Summed response categories (e.g., “strongly support” + “somewhat support”) are rounded after sums are calculated. For example, in some cases, the sum of 25% + 25% might be reported as 51% (e.g., 25.3% + 25.3% = 50.6%, which, after rounding, is 51%).
• All questions included in this report, other than the question reported in section 2.1, were also asked in our March 2021 survey. All changes in opinion (i.e., differences in percentages) since March that are noted in the report text are outside the survey’s margin of error. Any changes in percentages from March to September that are not noted in the report text are within the survey’s margin of error.
• Weighted percentages among registered voters of each of the groups discussed in this report:
  • Democrats (total) including leaners: 48%
    • Liberal Democrats: 26%
    • Moderate/Conservative Democrats: 22%
      • (Moderate Democrats: 18%; Conservative Democrats: 3%)
  • Independents excluding leaners: 10%
  • Republicans (total) including leaners: 37%
    • Liberal/Moderate Republicans: 14%
      • (Liberal Republicans: 1%; Moderate Republicans: 13%)
    • Conservative Republicans: 23%
  • No party/Not interested in politics/No response: 5% (included in results reported for “All Registered Voters” only)

1. Which Countries Should Act on Global Warming?

1.1. Two in three registered voters say the United States should reduce greenhouse gas emissions, regardless of what other countries do.

Two in three registered voters (66%) think the United States should reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, regardless of what other countries do, an increase of five percentage points since our previous survey in March 2021. Majorities of liberal Democrats (92%), moderate/conservative Democrats (78%), and liberal/moderate Republicans (60%; +14 percentage points since March) take this position. Fewer conservative Republicans (33%), take this position.

Only 6% of registered voters (including less than 1% of Democrats, 8% of Independents, and 13% of Republicans) say the United States should not reduce its emissions (see data tables).

1.2. Registered voters across partisan lines say developing countries should do more to address global warming.

About eight in ten registered voters (81%) say developing countries (such as China, India, and Brazil) should be doing more to address global warming. Similarly, about three in four (74%) say other industrialized countries (such as England, Germany, and Japan) should be doing more. About two in three registered voters (66%) say the United States should be doing more to address global warming.

Among those, the percentage of registered voters who responded that developing countries, other industrialized countries, and the United States should be doing much more to address global warming has increased since our previous survey in March 2021 (developing countries, +9 percentage points; other industrialized countries, +9 points; the United States, +11 points; see data tables).

Large majorities of both liberal Democrats and moderate/conservative Democrats say developing countries, other industrialized countries, and the United States should all be doing more to address global warming. Eight in ten liberal/moderate Republicans say developing countries (80%) should be doing more, and majorities say other industrialized countries (73%; +13 percentage points since March) and the United States (58%) should be doing more. Two in three conservative Republicans (66%) say developing countries should be doing more, half (50%; +7 points since March) say other industrialized countries should be doing more, but Only 28% say the United States should be doing more.

2. How Should the U.S. Interact with Other Countries to Act on Global Warming?

2.1. A majority of registered voters support the U.S. government’s pledge to reduce the nation’s carbon pollution by 50% by the year 2030.

In December, 2015, officials from 197 countries (nearly every country in the world) met in Paris at the United Nations Climate Change Conference and negotiated a global agreement to limit global warming. On Earth Day, April 2016, the United States and 174 other countries signed the agreement, with all of the other countries following suit. After President Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement, President Biden rejoined the agreement soon after his inauguration. Since that time, the U.S. government has pledged even larger reductions in our nation’s carbon pollution than were agreed upon in Paris, promising a 50% reduction by 2030.

Nearly three in four registered voters (73%) “strongly” or “somewhat” support the U.S. government’s pledge to reduce the nation’s carbon pollution by 50% by the year 2030, but support varies by party. Nearly all liberal Democrats (97%) and moderate/conservative Democrats (91%), and about two in three liberal/moderate Republicans (68%) support the pledge. By contrast, about one in three conservative Republicans (32%) support the pledge.

2.2. A majority of registered voters support the U.S. providing aid and support to developing countries for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Majorities of registered voters support providing financial aid and technical support to developing countries to limit their greenhouse gas emissions (i.e., mitigation, 66%, +8 percentage points since our previous survey in March 2021) and to help them prepare for the impacts of global warming (i.e., adaptation, 61%, +7 percentage points).

Large majorities of liberal Democrats support providing aid for mitigation (93%) and adaptation (87%), as do most moderate/conservative Democrats (mitigation, 83%; adaptation, 80%). Providing financial aid and technical support to developing countries for mitigation is supported about half of liberal/moderate Republicans (52%) and aid and support for adaptation is supported by 46% of liberal/moderate Republicans. Fewer conservative Republicans support these policies (mitigation, 30%; adaptation, 24%).

2.3. More than three in four registered voters support the U.S. pressuring other countries to reduce their carbon pollution.

More than three in four registered voters (78%) support the United States pressuring other countries to reduce their carbon pollution. This includes nearly all liberal Democrats (96%) and moderate/conservative Democrats (91%), a large majority of liberal/moderate Republicans (80%; +12 percentage points since our previous survey in March 2021), and about half of conservative Republicans (51%).

Appendix I: Data Tables

Data Tables can be found beginning on p. 10 of the PDF version of the full report:

public-support-international-climate-action-september-2021

Appendix II: Survey Method

The data in this report are based on a nationally representative survey of 1,006 American adults, aged 18 and older. Results are reported for the subset of 898 registered voters who participated in the survey. The survey was conducted September 10 – 20, 2021. All questionnaires were self-administered by respondents in a web-based environment. The survey took, on average, about 24 minutes to complete.

The sample was drawn from the Ipsos (formerly GfK) KnowledgePanel^®, an online panel of members drawn using probability sampling methods. Prospective members are recruited using a combination of random digit dial and address-based sampling techniques that cover virtually all (non-institutional) resident phone numbers and addresses in the United States. Those contacted who would choose to join the panel but do not have access to the Internet are loaned computers and given Internet access so they may participate.

The sample therefore includes a representative cross-section of American adults – irrespective of whether they have Internet access, use only a cell phone, etc. Key demographic variables were weighted, post survey, to match US Census Bureau norms.

From November 2008 to December 2018, no KnowledgePanel^® member participated in more than one Climate Change in the American Mind (CCAM) survey. Beginning with the April 2019 survey, panel members who have participated in CCAM surveys in the past, excluding the most recent two surveys, may be randomly selected for participation. In the current survey, 300 respondents, 262 of whom are registered voters included in this report, participated in a previous CCAM survey.

The survey instrument was designed by Anthony Leiserowitz, Seth Rosenthal, Jennifer Carman, Matthew Goldberg, Karine Lacroix, and Jennifer Marlon of Yale University, and Edward Maibach and John Kotcher of George Mason University.

Margins of error

All samples are subject to some degree of sampling error – that is, statistical results obtained from a sample can be expected to differ somewhat from results that would be obtained if every member of the target population was interviewed. Average margins of error, at the 95% confidence level, are as follows:

• Total registered voters (n = 898): Plus or minus 3 percentage points.
  • Democrats (total; n = 410): Plus or minus 5 percentage points.
    • Liberal Democrats (n = 230): Plus or minus 6 percentage points.
    • Moderate/conservative Democrats (n = 176): Plus or minus 7 percentage points.
  • Independents (n = 90): Plus or minus 10 percentage points.
  • Republicans (total; n = 364): Plus or minus 5 percentage points.
    • Liberal/moderate Republicans (n = 127): Plus or minus 9 percentage points.
    • Conservative Republicans (n = 237): Plus or minus 6 percentage points.

Rounding error and tabulation

In data tables, bases specified are unweighted, but percentages are weighted to match national population parameters.

For tabulation purposes, percentage points are rounded to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given chart may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. Summed response categories (e.g., “strongly support” + “somewhat support”) are rounded after sums are calculated. For example, in some cases, the sum of 25% + 25% might be reported as 51% (e.g., 25.3% + 25.3% = 50.6%, which, after rounding, would be reported as 25% + 25% = 51%).

Appendix III: Demographics

Sample demographics can be found on pp. 15 – 16 of the PDF version of the full report:

public-support-international-climate-action-september-2021