Level of concern over the effects of climate change plateaus despite increasing environmental challenges, new report finds

While the vast majority of people worldwide are concerned about the impact of climate change, the level of concern has plateaued over the past three years despite the increasing urgency of the crisis.

This is one of the main findings of the Reuter’s Institute for the Study of Journalism’s Climate Change and News Audiences Report 2024, released today.

The survey found that ‘climate perception inertia’ - a stagnation in public views on, attitudes to, and engagement with climate issues and information over time - had taken hold among those surveyed. 

The report is based on a survey conducted in November 2024 of people in eight countries: Brazil, France, Germany, India, Japan, Pakistan, the UK, and the USA. It is part of a wider project analysing public engagement with news and information about climate change, and how people perceive, experience and react to its escalating impacts. 

Other key findings include:

• On average across eight countries, half (50%) see, read, or hear news or information about climate change on a weekly basis – showing little change from 2022 (51%).
• Climate news and information consumption is highest in France (60%), with lower numbers in the USA (34%) where, against the backdrop of the presidential election, there was a 16 percentage point fall from 2023.
• Half (50%) say they trust the news media on climate change – a figure that hasnchanged little from 2022 (52%). Scientists are by far the most trusted source of climatenchange information (74%) as well as the most visible source in news coverage.
• On average across eight countries, the proportion that think they see false and misleading information about climate change on a weekly basis is 25% – with little change from 2022 (27%).
• on average across eight countries, 14% say they had ‘never heard of’ the Conference of Parties (COP), while 21% acknowledge they had ‘heard of it but know nothing about it’. However, a majority (61%) do claim to know at least a little about COP – though just 9% say they know ‘a lot’.
• On average across eight countries, people are more likely to think that extreme weather events are getting worse rather than better, and that the risks from them are getting higher. People are divided over whether their government’s handling of them is getting worse or better.

The report was written by Waqas Ejaz, RISJ Oxford Climate Journalism Network Postdoctoral Research Fellow; Mitali Mukherjee, RISJ Acting Director and Director of Journalist Programmes; and Richard Fletcher, RISJ Director of Research.

The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is dedicated to exploring the future of journalism worldwide.