CLIMATE-HEALTH MESSAGES BUILD SUPPORT FOR CLIMATE ACTION

The study demonstrates that health-related climate messages are twice as likely to shift public attitudes compared to non-health messages across four countries. While a high baseline of concern for climate change exists globally, specific health themes—such as extreme heat, food and water insecurity, and children's health—consistently increase demand for urgent government action and policy support. The report emphasizes that the most impactful health messages vary by country, suggesting that communications should be tailored to local public health priorities to maximize effectiveness.

• Health-focused messages are significantly more effective at changing public attitudes toward climate change than non-health messages, with the former being twice as likely to cause a shift.
• Across Brazil, India, Japan, and South Africa, over 80% of the public is concerned about climate change, and at least 75% recognize that it harms human health.
• When aggregating data from all four countries, the most consistently impactful health messages focus on extreme heat, food and water insecurity, and children's health.
• In Brazil, mental health messaging is the most resonant, shifting 24 attitudes in the survey, followed by food and water insecurity and economic and social costs.
• In India, air pollution is the most resonant topic, while messaging on access to healthcare and jobs and economy also significantly shifts public opinion.
• In Japan, the most impactful message relates to the health effects of climate-induced heatwaves, which shifted seven attitudes.
• In South Africa, messages regarding children's health are the most moving, changing 14 attitudes, followed by food and water insecurity.
• There is broad public support for specific climate policies across the studied countries, particularly for investing in public buildings for use during extreme weather and building solar parks.

APA

Dewan, N., Davies, G., Gilbreath, D., & Schroyens, N. (n.d.). CLIMATE-HEALTH MESSAGES BUILD SUPPORT FOR CLIMATE ACTION. Climate Opinion Research Exchange. https://climateopinion.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/CLIMATE-HEALTH-MESSAGES-BUILD-SUPPORT-FOR-CLIMATE-ACTION.pdf

Chicago

Dewan, Neha, Garth Davies, Dustin Gilbreath, and Natalie Schroyens. CLIMATE-HEALTH MESSAGES BUILD SUPPORT FOR CLIMATE ACTION. Climate Opinion Research Exchange, n.d. https://climateopinion.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/CLIMATE-HEALTH-MESSAGES-BUILD-SUPPORT-FOR-CLIMATE-ACTION.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Dewan |first1=Neha |last2=Davies |first2=Garth |last3=Gilbreath |first3=Dustin |last4=Schroyens |first4=Natalie |title=CLIMATE-HEALTH MESSAGES BUILD SUPPORT FOR CLIMATE ACTION |publisher=Climate Opinion Research Exchange |url=https://climateopinion.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/CLIMATE-HEALTH-MESSAGES-BUILD-SUPPORT-FOR-CLIMATE-ACTION.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{dewanndclimatehealth, author = {Dewan, Neha and Davies, Garth and Gilbreath, Dustin and Schroyens, Natalie}, title = {{CLIMATE-HEALTH MESSAGES BUILD SUPPORT FOR CLIMATE ACTION}}, institution = {Climate Opinion Research Exchange}, url = {https://climateopinion.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/CLIMATE-HEALTH-MESSAGES-BUILD-SUPPORT-FOR-CLIMATE-ACTION.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }