Public opinion surveys show broad concern about climate change, but also meaningful differences in how people rank the issue, assign responsibility, and support particular policies. The figures below cover European Union surveys from 2017, 2021, 2023, and 2025, alongside U.S. findings from 2019 and April 2026. Percentages describe the named survey population and period; they are not directly interchangeable measures.
Contents
- European concern and support
- What people say causes and communicates climate change
- How views differed across EU countries
- Who people expect to act
- Personal action and everyday choices
- Energy, health, and the green transition
- U.S. concern and political differences
European concern and support
The 2025 Eurobarometer reported that 85% of EU citizens viewed climate change as a major problem. The same survey found that 81% supported the European Union goal of climate neutrality by 2050. Climate-ADAPT’s 2025 Eurobarometer news item says the survey covered 26,319 citizens across all 27 EU member states. These results measure both perceived importance and support for a long-term EU objective, rather than a single question about personal behavior.
Earlier European Commission results provide context for how concern has changed over time. In the 2017 climate change survey, 92% of EU respondents called climate change a serious problem, compared with 91% in 2015. The share calling it a very serious problem was 74% in 2017, up from 69% in 2015. In that 2017 survey, 43% said climate change was among the most serious problems facing the world.
The 2023 Eurobarometer measured concern using related but distinct wording. European Commission citizen-support results found that 93% of EU citizens saw climate change as a serious problem, while 77% saw it as a very serious problem. The difference between “serious” and “very serious” matters: a high broad concern figure does not mean every respondent placed climate change at the highest level of urgency.
| Survey measure | Period | Result | Population or geography |
|---|---|---|---|
| Climate change is a major problem | 2025 | 85% | EU citizens, all 27 member states |
| Support for climate neutrality by 2050 | 2025 | 81% | EU citizens |
| Climate change is a serious problem | 2023 | 93% | EU citizens |
| Climate change is a very serious problem | 2023 | 77% | EU citizens |
| Climate change is a serious problem | 2017 | 92% | EU respondents |
| Climate change is a very serious problem | 2017 | 74% | EU citizens |
What people say causes and communicates climate change
The European Commission’s climate disinformation page reports that 84% of Europeans agreed climate change is caused by human activity. That finding describes attribution, not necessarily agreement about the best response or the pace of policy change.
The same source highlights concerns about information quality. Fifty-two percent said traditional media fail to provide clear information on climate change, and 49% said it is difficult to identify reliable climate content on social media. Together, these results point to a public-information challenge: many people accept the human cause while finding climate communication difficult to evaluate.
Public-health framing also received strong support. In the European Commission figures, 85% said climate action should be a priority to improve public health, and 83% said better preparation for climate impacts would improve daily life. These are opinion measures about expected benefits, not estimates of a specific health effect or economic return.
The 2021 Special Eurobarometer 513 factsheets show similar health and transition attitudes in Croatia. There, 91% agreed climate and environmental action should be a public-health priority. Also, 86% agreed that the cost of climate damage is much higher than the investment needed for a green transition. The Croatia factsheet further found that 71% thought recovery-plan money should mainly be invested in the new green economy.
How views differed across EU countries
Country results show why an EU-wide percentage should not be treated as a uniform view in every member state. In the 2023 Special Eurobarometer 538 factsheets, 85% of respondents in Cyprus called climate change a very serious problem, compared with 73% in Sweden. Both figures indicate substantial concern, but the gap is 12 percentage points.
The same 2023 factsheets reported that 55% of respondents in Germany, 49% in Malta, and 47% in Luxembourg said climate change was one of the most serious world problems. This wording is narrower than asking whether climate change is serious, so these results should not be compared as if they were the same scale.
The Germany factsheet also compared other world problems. Among EU27 respondents, 58% called poverty, hunger, and lack of drinking water a serious world problem, versus 63% in Germany. Armed conflicts were selected by 52% across the EU27 and 59% in Germany. The economic situation was selected by 38% across the EU27 and 30% in Germany. Deterioration of nature was selected by 27% across the EU27 and 23% in Germany.
These comparisons show that climate opinion sits within a wider hierarchy of perceived global problems. A respondent can regard climate change as serious while also giving greater priority to poverty, conflict, or other concerns.
Who people expect to act
Responsibility is distributed across several institutions and groups. In the 2023 Special Eurobarometer 538 Germany factsheet, 56% of EU27 respondents said national governments were responsible for tackling climate change, compared with 61% in Germany. The European Union was named by 56% across the EU27 and 63% in Germany.
Business and industry were selected by 36% of EU27 respondents and 23% in Germany. Regional and local authorities were selected by 36% across the EU27 and 44% in Germany. Personal responsibility was selected by 35% across the EU27 and 48% in Germany. Environmental groups were selected by 29% across the EU27 and 31% in Germany.
Views of government effort were also measured. Sixty-seven percent of EU27 respondents said their national government was doing not enough, compared with 52% in Germany. Twenty-three percent across the EU27 said the government was doing enough, versus 34% in Germany. Five percent in both comparisons said the government was doing too much across the EU27, while 11% said this in Germany. The “do not know” response was 5% across the EU27 and 3% in Germany.
The 2021 Special Eurobarometer 513 Sweden factsheet found higher responsibility ratings in Sweden: 76% named national governments, 69% named the European Union, and 56% said they personally were responsible for tackling climate change. In Croatia, the corresponding figures were 52%, 51%, and 26%. These are country-specific results from 2021, not current EU-wide estimates.
Personal action and everyday choices
The 2017 European Commission climate change survey found that 49% of EU respondents said they personally take action against climate change. When given specific examples, however, 90% said they take action. This difference illustrates how answers can vary with question framing: a general self-description may produce a lower result than recognition of particular behaviors.
In 2017, 71% said they reduced waste and separated it for recycling. The survey also found that 79% believed fighting climate change and using energy more efficiently could boost the EU economy and jobs. Seventy-seven percent said promoting EU clean-technology expertise to third countries could benefit the EU economically, while 65% said reducing fossil-fuel imports from third countries could bring economic benefits.
The 2017 survey interviewed 27,901 EU citizens face to face. In Sweden in 2021, 74% said they had taken action to fight climate change during the previous six months, and 99% selected at least one specific climate action from a list of 15. Eighty percent said they reduced disposable items whenever possible, while 34% said they considered the carbon footprint of food purchases and sometimes adapted their shopping.
Croatia’s 2021 results were lower on the broad recent-action question but still high on prompted actions: 60% said they had taken action during the previous six months, and 97% selected at least one specific action from the list of 15. Twenty-two percent said their home had been better insulated to reduce energy consumption.
Energy, health, and the green transition
Support for renewable-energy goals was strong in the 2017 EU survey. Eighty-nine percent said national governments should set targets to increase renewable energy by 2030, and 88% said national governments should support improving energy efficiency by 2030.
Croatia’s 2021 factsheet recorded similarly high support: 93% said national targets to increase renewable energy by 2030 were important, and 91% said EU-wide renewable-energy targets by 2030 were important. Ninety-five percent agreed greenhouse-gas emissions should be reduced to a minimum for EU climate neutrality by 2050.
The Croatia data therefore combine strong support for renewable targets, climate neutrality, and public-health action. They do not establish that every respondent supported every individual policy instrument, nor do they provide a forecast of emissions reductions.
U.S. concern and political differences
Gallup’s April 2026 U.S. poll measured worry about global warming or climate change. Forty-four percent worried a great deal, 22% worried a fair amount, 12% worried only a little, and 23% did not worry at all. These categories describe intensity of concern rather than a binary yes-or-no opinion.
Gallup also reported sharp partisan differences in views of news coverage. Sixty-five percent of Democrats said the seriousness of global warming was underestimated in the news, while 71% of Republicans said it was exaggerated. Among all U.S. adults, 61% said the effects of global warming had already begun, 45% said global warming would threaten their way of life during their lifetime, and 64% said temperature increases were due more to human pollution than to natural changes.
The April 2026 poll asked about recent winter temperatures. Thirty-seven percent said their winter temperatures were colder, 33% said warmer, and 29% said about the same. Among Western residents, 65% said winter temperatures were warmer than usual. Of people who said their winters were warmer, 68% attributed that to human-caused climate change; among those who said their winters were colder, 45% attributed that to human-caused climate change.
Pew Research Center’s 2019 U.S. survey found that 67% said the federal government was doing too little to reduce climate-change effects. That view reached 90% among Democrats, 65% among moderate or liberal Republicans, and 24% among conservative Republicans. Seventy-seven percent said the United States should prioritize alternative energy over expanding fossil-fuel production, and 62% said climate change was affecting their local community at least some.
Support varied by energy source in the same 2019 Pew survey. Ninety-two percent favored expanding solar power and 85% favored expanding wind power. Views of nuclear power were evenly divided: 49% favored expansion, while 49% opposed or did not favor it. Forty-two percent favored more offshore oil and gas drilling, 38% favored more hydraulic fracturing, and 35% favored more coal mining. Across party groups, 86% of Republicans and 96% of Democrats favored more solar panel farms.