Figure 10.

When asked about where people think they were exposed to climate change misinformation, our findings show a mixture of similarities to our previous study (Ejaz et al. 2022) and new insights, especially in country-level differences. As illustrated in Figure 11, across countries, a higher percentage of our respondents in India (45%), Brazil (25%), and the USA (21%) think they encountered false news and misleading information online (including social media and messaging apps) compared with Japan, France, and the UK, where the percentage ranged from 11% to 16%. Like 2022, newspapers and radio remain less frequently cited than other sources across all countries.

Figure 11.

We also asked respondents about the sources of this misinformation. Figure 12 illustrates that, on average across all countries, politicians and political parties (13%) as well as governments (12%) are relatively frequently cited as sources of climate change misinformation. While variations across countries are evident for some sources, the differences between the sources on the list are not statistically significant in many cases.

Figure 12.

3. Coverage of direct action climate protests

In recent years there has been a surge in what are sometimes called direct action climate protests. In different countries protesters have variously disrupted sporting events, glued themselves to works of art, and blocked transport routes to raise awareness of the damage caused by climate change. But these protests can be controversial, with critics questioning whether they actually undermine the cause they are arguing for.

Leaving this larger question to one side, we are primarily interested in what people think about the news media coverage of the protests. However, to start to map this out, we first need to gauge public support or opposition in countries where prominent direct action protests have occurred.⁴ When we do this across France, Germany, the UK, and the USA, we see that support among our respondents is typically lower than opposition. In Germany, 17% say that they ‘strongly support’ or ‘tend to support’ direct action protests related to climate change (e.g. blocking roads, disrupting sporting events). Support is slightly higher in France (28%), rising to almost one third (31%) in the USA. In the UK, support is at 23% with opposition at 53%. This overall negative view is broadly aligned with other polling in the UK that tends to find similar views of specific groups and protests.⁵

Figure 13.

However, it is important to recognise that support for direct action protests also varies considerably across different demographic groups. It is stronger among the under 35s and stronger still among those who self-identify with the political left (46%), but even here there is not majority support. Men are slightly more likely to express support for direct action protests, but they are also more likely to oppose them; women are more likely to have a mixed view. We see a similarly mixed picture when we split the data by different levels of climate news use. More frequent climate change news use does not seem to be associated with higher levels of support, but it does seem to be associated with higher levels of opposition. However, this is largely because older people use climate news more frequently and are much more likely to oppose direct action protests.

Figure 14.

We also asked our respondents how fairly or unfairly different sources report on or discuss these protests. Public opinion is quite evenly split in all cases. When it comes to news coverage, around one quarter in Germany (22%) and France (25%) and one third in the UK (33%) and the USA (32%) think that it is fair, with around one quarter saying it is unfair, and nearly half saying they either ‘don’t know’ or think the coverage is ‘neither fair nor unfair’. This probably reflects the fact that, although this can be a divisive issue, much coverage does not make an explicit judgement of events.

If we instead look at views on how each country’s respective government discusses the issue, we see broadly similar proportions in each country saying that direct action protests are discussed fairly compared with the news media. However, slightly higher proportions in France (31%) and Germany (29%) think that the government discusses the issue unfairly. Once again, we see between 40% and 50% saying they either ‘don’t know’ or think the discussion is ‘neither fair nor unfair’.

Figure 15.

To better understand these numbers we can split the data by support for the protests; however, it is of course important to recognise that news coverage may itself shape support or opposition. In France, people’s assessment of the coverage does not appear to be strongly influenced by whether they support such protests. In the UK and Germany, supporters of direct action protests are more likely to think the news coverage of them has been unfair. In the UK in particular, the extent to which people’s underlying view of the protests shapes their view of the coverage is clear, with those who oppose the protests more likely to think the coverage has been fair. In the USA, we see some evidence of the opposite, with protest supporters much more likely to see the coverage as fair.

Figure 16.

4. Perception of health impacts of climate change

Research has consistently found a link between climate change and adverse effects on human health. The recent Lancet Countdown report on health and climate change issued a dire warning, attributing the global increase in frequent and extreme weather events, disruptions to water and food systems, and shifts in the environmental suitability for infectious diseases to unchecked climate change, which poses a great threat to the well-being of both present and future generations (Romanello et al. 2021).

News media can play a crucial role in raising public awareness about the link between climate change and health, and framing climate change as a public health concern has been shown to positively influence public understanding and engagement with the issue (Depoux et al. 2017). In light of this, we examine public perceptions of the link between climate change and health, as well as the media’s contributions to this understanding, across eight countries.

Figure 17.

Our starting point is to measure the extent to which people think their country experiences a range of different extreme weather events. Figure 17 illustrates that a majority of our respondents believe their country experiences a fair amount of air pollution and flooding. On average across all countries, 72% think their country experiences air pollution, ranking it at the top, closely followed by flooding (70%). These findings align with previous research that identifies air pollution as one of the world’s most prevalent health and environmental challenges, contributing to over six million deaths annually (Ritchie and Roser 2017).

Figure 18.

We also explore when respondents think people in their country will be affected by the more serious consequences of climate change. Our findings, presented in Figure 18, reveal notable variations. The proportion of people who think their country is being affected now is 43% in the UK and the USA, rising to 58% in Brazil. In India, however, just three out of every ten respondents (30%) perceive their country is currently being impacted by climate change, while a quarter (25%) anticipate these effects in ten years. This is perhaps surprising given the frequent occurrence of extreme weather events in India over the past five years. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that in all countries a significant percentage of our respondents still perceive climate change and its impacts as distant, unlikely, or simply unknown.

Figure 19.

Next, we examine the role news media can play in making people realise the urgency of the impacts of climate change. Figure 19 provides a clear illustration that the more frequently individuals consume climate change news, the more likely they are to agree that people in their respective countries are currently experiencing the effects of climate change. Moreover, as the frequency of climate change news consumption increases, the percentage of respondents who anticipate more serious impacts within the next 10 to 100 years decreases. In contrast, for those who believe the impacts are distant or may never materialise, the percentages remain relatively stable, even with frequent consumption of such news. In all cases, it is important to point out that we do not have evidence that climate news use causes a change in attitudes, and it may be that people who are most concerned about the impact of climate change consume news on it as a result.

Figure 20.

Probing public opinion on the extent of climate change-induced impacts on health, Figure 20 reveals a striking contrast between the Global North and South. For instance, more than half of our respondents in Brazil, India, and Pakistan believe that climate change is having very large or large effects on their health and that of their families and fellow citizens. In contrast, majorities in the UK (69%), USA (58%), France (55%), and Germany (54%) perceive small or no effects from climate change on their individual health. Likewise, for their families, this percentage ranges from 65% to 51%, and for the health of people in their respective countries, it varies between 59% and 45%.

Figure 21.

When we segmented the data by gender and age groups, Figure 21 reveals that younger respondents are more likely to perceive significant health effects from climate change. However, this perception significantly declines among individuals aged 45 and above. In contrast, gender-based differences are less prominent. Furthermore, across all age groups and genders, a higher percentage believe that climate change has a large effect on the health of citizens in their country compared with their own health and that of their family.

5. Climate justice

While climate change is often portrayed as a global issue, recent climate-induced disasters like floods in South Asia, wildfires in Greece and Canada, and recurrent heatwaves in Europe have revealed its disproportionate impact on politically, culturally, and economically marginalised communities and nations, bringing the issue of climate justice to the forefront (Harlan et al. 2015; Das 2020).

Climate justice, as a concept, addresses the fact that those least responsible for causing climate change are often the most severely affected and are often excluded from decision-making processes related to climate mitigation and adaptation (Newell et al. 2021). At the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) held in Egypt in 2022, the topic of climate justice took centre stage. The conference’s conclusion, where nations reached an agreement to establish a much-needed ‘loss and damage’ facility, was hailed as a significant success and a landmark achievement (Tannis 2022).

With the ongoing international attention on this critical issue and the escalating impacts of climate change, we sought the opinions of our respondents. Specifically, we asked about their perceptions of how these impacts affect different groups and their views on who is most responsible for addressing them.

As shown in Figure 22, there are different opinions on the impact of climate change on various groups. On average across all countries, a substantial majority of our respondents, more than two thirds (68%), believe that climate change-induced impacts do not discriminate based on gender. Similarly, over one third (42%) of respondents do not perceive different effects on younger and older populations – though it is important to remember that we asked specifically about who is affected now, and we may have seen different results if we had asked about the effect over the course of people’s lives. Concerning the impact on poorer individuals and nations, slightly more than half of our respondents agree that these groups are disproportionately affected by climate change, although there are notable variations across countries. For instance, over 60% of respondents in Pakistan share this view, while just over 40% of respondents in Japan agree.

Figure 22.

If we split the data by political leaning, notable differences emerge, particularly in the Global North countries, in respondents’ views on the impacts of climate change on poorer nations and individuals. For instance, as shown in Figure 23, the gap between left- and right-leaning respondents in the UK agreeing with statements about the impact of climate change on poorer people and nations was 37pp and 26pp, respectively. This contrast is similar in the USA and France. The political divide concerning the climate change-related impacts on women and older people are relatively less pronounced.

Figure 23.

An essential aspect of the concept of climate justice is the allocation of responsibility for climate change (Das 2020). Figure 24 illustrates that, on average across all eight countries, over one third (41%) of our participants believe that wealthier nations should assume greater responsibility, and half (51%) assert that more polluting countries should take on a larger role in mitigating climate change.

Figure 24.

We obtained additional insights on attribution of responsibility when classifying these responses according to the frequency with which people consume news about climate change. Figure 25 demonstrates that, across all countries, individuals who consume climate change news on a weekly basis are more inclined to agree that wealthier and more polluting countries should assume a greater responsibility in reducing climate change. Conversely, frequent consumers of climate news are less likely to attribute higher responsibility to poorer and less polluting countries, but, again, we do not have evidence of a causal relationship.

Figure 25.

To address the issue of climate injustice, key stakeholders must engage with the topic and bring it forth in public discourse. Consequently, we aimed to assess public perceptions of various actors and their roles in discussing the attribution of responsibility to address climate change. As shown in Figure 26, across all countries, respondents are most likely to agree that official international institutions (e.g. the UN), governments, scientists, and politicians should talk more about climate justice. Regarding expectations of the news media, approximately half of our respondents also feel that news media should give more attention to this issue.

Figure 26.

6. Climate change, politics, and influence

Climate change is inherently intertwined with politics, as it revolves around resource allocation, regulatory decisions, and international agreements that shape our collective response to the crisis. At the same time, we know that the media play an important role as a primary source of climate-related information. Thus, regardless of stance on the issue of climate change, it is probable that politics and the media have played a role in shaping people’s viewpoints (Murray 2021).

Figure 27.

To start, we examined variations in the levels of concern expressed by our respondents regarding the impacts of climate change, categorised by their political ideologies. As shown in Figure 27, a significant majority of our respondents, regardless of their political leanings, express worry about the impacts of climate change on both people and the planet. The most notable differences across the ideological spectrum are observed in the UK and the USA, consistent with the previous year’s findings, indicating that climate change remains a divisive issue, particularly in these two countries.

Figure 28.

Given the significant percentage of people expressing concern about the impacts of climate change, we sought to gauge their interest in environmental and climate change news compared with other types of news. As Figure 28 illustrates, a large majority, ranging from 75% in the UK and the USA to 96% in India, expressed interest in environmental and climate-related news. Levels of public interest in environmental news closely aligns with their interest in other news genres, including political and local news. Furthermore, when comparing this year’s data with the 2022 data, we observed a consistent pattern in public interest in environmental and climate-related news.

Figure 29.

While the average percentage of respondents interested in climate change news remains relatively stable over the two survey years, significant differences become apparent when we split the data by political ideologies, hinting at the influence of politics on public interest in the issue. Figure 29 illustrates that considerable differences exist in people’s interest in environment-related news between left- and right-leaning individuals across five countries. On average, there is an 8pp difference between left and right in these five countries, with 56% of people on the left expressing interest in climate news compared with 48% on the right.

Figure 30.

Evaluating public opinion on the actions being taken by key stakeholders to mitigate climate change, Figure 30 shows that more than half of our respondents believe that politicians and political parties are doing ‘too little’, an opinion that has increased by five percentage points from 2022 to 2023. For politicians and political parties, the increase points to growing concerns among the public that not enough is being done to tackle climate change. It also bears mentioning that more than one third (38%) of our respondents, similar to 2022, still believe that news media are doing ‘too little’, emphasising the audience’s ongoing expectations regarding reporting and sharing information about climate change.

Figure 31.

Among others, perhaps one reason for people’s expectations of news coverage about climate change stems from their subjective perception of the media’s influence. Figure 31 illustrates that the majority of our respondents, in many cases, agree that news media coverage of climate change influences institutions and public attitudes.

Figure 32.

Yet, when we segment the data based on the frequency of climate news consumption, we observe a weak association between people’s perceptions of media influence and various entities. Our results, as shown in Figure 32, indicate that there are small yet statistically significant differences in beliefs about the influence of media coverage on public attitudes, public health institutions, and government actions between those who consume climate change news weekly and those who consume it less frequently. However, such differences do not exist between those who frequently consume news and those who do not with respect to the belief that media coverage influences government policies and actions of large corporations. Thus, our findings reveal a nuanced picture that while a wider audience acknowledges that media coverage of climate change has an impact, this is largely independent of the frequency of climate news consumption.

7. Climate change and solutions journalism

Previous research has pointed out that the majority of the public rely heavily on news media as a primary source of information on climate change (Newman et al. 2020). However, despite its crucial role, some argue that traditional climate change journalism falls short in empowering audiences to advocate for collective and policy-driven solutions (Hackett et al. 2017). One potential reason for this shortfall could be the way climate change is typically covered in the media, often focusing on isolated incidents and over-emphasising disasters rather than solutions, while giving limited attention to concepts like ‘agency’, ‘hope’, and ‘efficacy’ (Hackett et al. 2017: 7). Consequently, some have proposed a different approach known as ‘solutions journalism’ (Thier and Lin 2022).

Solutions journalism delves into stories where individuals, organisations, and communities are actively striving to find solutions (Curry and Hammonds 2014). Essentially, it constitutes reporting on responses to societal challenges, encompassing a focus on the response and its evolution, evidence of response effectiveness, insights into the response’s applicability or adaptability to other contexts, and acknowledgement of the response’s limitations (Thier and Lin 2022).

To gain a deeper understanding of public perceptions of this form of journalism, we asked respondents a series of questions, including their preferences for news types and the characteristics they value in climate change coverage. As Figure 33 illustrates, a large majority of our respondents across the eight countries express interest in all types of climate change news coverage, with only small average variations between different types. However, a slightly larger proportion do express interest in ‘news that suggests solutions that address climate change’ compared to ‘news that investigates wrongdoing or abuses of power’.

Figure 33.

In Figure 34, we show that weekly climate news users are slightly more interested in all types of climate change coverage compared with those using climate news less than monthly. This pattern persists across all countries. Furthermore, we classified the climate news preferences of our survey participants based on their age groups and political affiliations. However, we did not observe any significant differences in preferences between younger and older respondents or between those with different political affiliations.

Figure 34.

Next, we sought to capture nuances in climate change coverage related to solutions journalism. As shown in Figure 35, the majority of our respondents express interest in various types of solutions-based climate change news coverage, with only minor average differences between the types. Overall, people’s opinions remain consistent, indicating the limits of how deeply people think about solutions-oriented climate news coverage.

Figure 35.

Conclusions

This study extends our prior research published in 2022, focusing on how individuals in a diverse sample of nations consume climate change news, their perceptions of different sources of climate information, and the intersection between climate news use and their opinions on relevant climate-related issues. Our work offers fresh insights based on data collected in 2023 while providing a valuable point of reference from the previous year.

Our research reveals that, akin to 2022, over half of the respondents encounter climate change news on a weekly basis. Notably, this proportion has increased in Germany, Brazil, Japan, India, and the UK compared with the previous year. While this increase is promising, it may be attributed to a combination of factors, including heightened climate-related media coverage, a growing public interest in the subject, or an increase in the frequency of climate-related events that are being reported by the media, making people believe that they are coming across such news more frequently.

Age and political affiliation continue to prove influential, as older age groups, due to their regular news consumption habits, and those with left-leaning political inclinations are more likely to frequently encounter climate change news. Similar to last year, this finding suggests that news media continue to struggle to make inroads among younger generations.

In general, trust in various sources of climate change information, including news media, remains consistent, with some country-specific variations. Additionally, scientists, environmental activists, and international institutions are not only highly trusted climate information sources, but they tend to have greater visibility in news media. As a result, the news media ensure the public is exposed to reliable and credible information on climate change. It is particularly important because concerns about climate change misinformation remain high but stable across the two survey years in all countries.

The inadequate or slow policy response to climate change has led to an increase in direct action protests, particularly in the UK, France, the USA, and Germany. Our findings indicate that there is minority support for these protests, with older individuals and those with right-wing political leanings being more likely to express opposition. Furthermore, public opinion on whether news media and governments fairly report or discuss direct action protests is evenly split, and in the UK and Germany, this view is partly influenced by support for the protests.

Climate change is intrinsically linked to human health and well-being. Our examination of public opinion on this association reveals a North–South divide, with individuals from Global North countries expressing a belief that climate change is less likely to have significant health effects, while the opposite holds true for Global South countries. This divide may be partly attributed to the more pronounced and visible impacts in Southern countries and their weaker healthcare infrastructure, often exposed during extreme weather events. Regarding the effects on specific groups, our findings indicate that people agree that climate change disproportionately affects poorer nations and individuals, but think men and women, younger and older are affected equally.

Probing people’s preferences across different types of climate change does not reveal much variation. For journalists, however, it is noteworthy that people across all countries have relatively high interest in climate change news that incorporates solutions in its coverage.

In conclusion, this report underscores the positive link between climate change news consumption and informed public opinions, reaffirming the crucial role of news media in shaping attitudes towards climate change.

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Footnotes