Public Support for International Climate Action

A September 2021 survey of 898 registered U.S. voters shows broad support for international climate action. A majority of voters believe the U.S. should reduce greenhouse gas emissions regardless of other countries' actions (66%) and support the government's pledge to reduce carbon pollution by 50% by 2030 (73%). There is also significant support for pressuring other nations to reduce pollution (78%) and providing financial and technical aid to developing countries for both mitigation (66%) and adaptation (61%). While there is cross-partisan agreement that developing and other industrialized nations should do more to address global warming, support for U.S.-led action varies significantly by political ideology, with the lowest support found among conservative Republicans.

• Two-thirds of registered U.S. voters (66%) believe the United States should reduce its greenhouse gas emissions independently of the actions of other countries, representing a 5 percentage point increase from March 2021.
• There is strong public support for the U.S. government's commitment to a 50% reduction in carbon pollution by 2030, with 73% of registered voters supporting the pledge.
• A majority of registered voters support providing developing countries with financial and technical assistance for both climate mitigation (66%) and adaptation (61%), with both metrics showing increases since March 2021.
• Voters believe other nations must increase their efforts to combat global warming, with 81% stating developing countries (such as China, India, and Brazil) and 74% stating other industrialized countries (such as England, Germany, and Japan) should do more.
• More than three-quarters of registered voters (78%) support the United States applying pressure on other countries to lower their carbon pollution.
• Support for international climate action is split along ideological lines; for example, while 92% of liberal Democrats believe the U.S. should reduce emissions regardless of other countries, only 33% of conservative Republicans share this view.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2021). Public Support for International Climate Action. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2021/10/public-support-international-climate-action-september-2021.pdf

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Public Support for International Climate Action. 2021. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2021/10/public-support-international-climate-action-september-2021.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Public Support for International Climate Action |date=September 2021 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2021/10/public-support-international-climate-action-september-2021.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2021public, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Public Support for International Climate Action}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2021}, month = sep, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/app/uploads/2021/10/public-support-international-climate-action-september-2021.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }