World Risk Poll 2024 Reveals Countries Most and Least Worried About Climate Change
The World Risk Poll 2024 report, with 147,000 interviews conducted in 142 countries and territories in 2023, is the first of its kind to study adult populations’ experiences and perceptions of safety and risk from multiple factors.
The insights used for this survey include daily risks from food and water, worries about mental health, road traffic, and the global consequences of climate change, as people answered tailored questions about their biggest risks to safety on three occasions in 2023.
Notable Findings from the Study
- 16% of the world’s adult population cited road-related accidents as their biggest risk to safety in everyday life, equivalent to 2019’s numbers. In 2021, this percentage was 13%. (Nearly 1.2 million people die each year on the world’s roads – WHO).
- Worry about mental health issues has seen a significant increase. In the World Risk Poll’s first report, 48% said they worry about mental health issues. This increased to 52% in 2021 and 55% in 2023.
- People who see climate change or severe weather events as the top risk to their safety in everyday life have doubled from 3% in 2019 and 2021 to 6% in 2023.
- In 2019, 41% of adults interviewed worldwide called climate change a “very serious threat” for people in their country in the next 20 years. 13% didn’t see it as a threat at all.
- In 2023, 39% stated climate change is a very serious threat.
- 72% of all adults surveyed said they see climate change as somewhat of a threat in 2023. This was 69% in 2019 and 67% in 2021.
- In 2023, 16% said they don’t feel climate change is a threat.
- 92% and 89% of adults interviewed in Southern and Northern/Western Europe, respectively, said climate change is a very or somewhat serious threat to the residents of their country in the next 20 years.
- 78% of adults in China now call climate change a very or somewhat serious threat, a significant increase from 54% in 2021.
Countries and Climate Change Perceptions
Note: Survey question: Do you think that climate change is a very serious threat, a somewhat serious threat, or not a threat at all to the people in this country in the next 20 years?
