The Gensler Research Institute’s newest survey of over 17,000 people in 15 countries discovered a global community with an incredible shared desire for swift and immediate action on the climate crisis. Much of this increased attention on climate change is driven by a year marked with devastating extreme weather impacts. Learn more about our methods.
Severe weather is impacting people around the world.
People are concerned for the future as increased extreme weather disrupts infrastructure reliability and community resilience.
Our Global Climate Action Survey found considerable public concern about the vulnerability of the built environment. When extreme weather hits, people lose access to basic amenities that they need to maintain their quality of life. This includes daily challenges, such as loss of electrical power and damaged roads, and mass disasters, like the failure of dams and bridges under severe storm surges. In the most vulnerable places, over 90% of people can lose access to infrastructure or services after severe weather events.
Less than half of respondents believe their community is built to withstand the impacts of climate change.
Climate change calls for immediate action.
A changing climate means an uncertain future. Our survey found that three in four people are either moderately or extremely worried about the effects of severe weather on their financial, physical, or mental well-being. This matters. Climate is inextricably linked with wellbeing, and climate action must address the impacts of extreme weather on physical and mental health.
Today, nearly two-thirds of our respondents believe that climate change should be addressed immediately. We are past the point of questioning whether climate action is worthwhile. The global community is demanding change, and institutions need to respond in turn.
Most people believe the world is not taking enough action to address climate change.
Global Climate Action Survey 2024 Methodology
The Gensler Research Institute deployed an anonymous panel-based survey to over 17,000 respondents in 15 countries between February 28 and April 30, 2024. Survey respondents were recruited using a third-party panel provider and aggregator with whom we worked with to ensure balanced distributions across personal characteristics such as age (18+), gender, and home region/province. All survey respondents answered questions about a range of climate-related issues, including experiences with natural disasters and severe weather events, personal impacts of climate change, and community readiness to respond.
Download Gensler’s Global Climate Action Survey 2024 to discover how experiences with extreme weather and climate change are driving a global call for resilient policy and resilient design.