The survey provides valuable insights into Indian adults' awareness, beliefs, and support for climate change action, shedding light on their concerns, attitudes, and policy preferences
From September 5 to November 1, 2023, the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and CVoter surveyed 2,178 Indian adults to study public climate change awareness, beliefs, attitudes, policy support, behaviour, and vulnerability to extreme weather events.
Local Environmental Hazards: Vulnerability and Resilience
Many people in India are concerned about environmental threats like pests, species extinction, heat waves, droughts, air pollution, famines, cyclones, and floods. Sixty-four percent of them say that they receive timely warnings of extreme weather events. Indians believe their family, friends, community, and local government can help prepare for and respond to extreme weather events. A large majority are involved in or willing to participate in collective preparedness actions.
Seventy percent of respondents are either already encouraging their family and friends to join a community emergency response team or are definitely willing to do so. When asked about joining a community response team, 68 percent indicated that they are either already involved (10 percent) or are definitely willing to participate (58 percent).
In the survey, 68 percent of respondents indicated that they are either already requesting or are definitely willing to request local government officials to explain their emergency response plans publicly. Thirty-four percent of respondents say they have already moved or considered moving due to weather-related disasters such as extreme heat, droughts, sea-level rise, flooding, or others. Seventy-five percent say it would take their household several months or more to recover from a severe flood, and 85 percent say it would take several months or more to rebound from a severe drought.
Global Warming Awareness and Beliefs
Fifty-four percent say they know either “just a little” about global warming or have never heard of it, while only 10 percent say they know “a lot.” However, when given a short definition of global warming and how it affects weather patterns, 78 percent say they think global warming is happening. Fifty-two percent believe global warming is caused mainly by human activities, while 38 percent think it is caused primarily by natural changes in the environment. Eighty-five percent say they have experienced the effects of global warming.
According to the survey, 91 percent of individuals are concerned about global warming, with 59 percent expressing deep worry about the issue. A significant majority also believe that global warming will have detrimental effects on plant and animal species (83 percent), people in India (82 percent), future generations (81 percent), their communities (78 percent), and their own families (74 percent). Additionally, 53 percent of respondents think that people in India are already being affected by global warming.
Furthermore, a substantial number of individuals in India anticipate that global warming will lead to an increase in severe heat waves (60 percent), extinctions of plant and animal species (57 percent), droughts and water shortages (56 percent), severe cyclones (54 percent), famines and food shortages (50 percent), and severe floods (46 percent).
Support for Climate and Energy Policies
Eighty-six percent of people support the Indian government’s commitment to reducing India’s carbon pollution to nearly zero by 2070. Additionally, 85 percent believe that transitioning from coal to wind and solar energy for electricity production will reduce air pollution, while 82 percent think it will also reduce global warming. However, 61 percent are concerned that this transition will lead to increased unemployment, 58 percent fear it will cause electricity outages, and 57 percent believe it will result in higher electricity prices.
Furthermore, 67 percent believe that leaving most of India’s coal in the ground is the best path to a healthy, safe, and prosperous future. There is also strong support for specific policies, such as a national programme to train people for jobs in the renewable energy industry (93 percent), a national programme to educate all Indians about global warming (92 percent), and a national program to fund women’s groups and Indigenous communities to protect the environment (91 percent).
In addition, 84 percent support banning the construction of new coal power plants, closing existing ones, and replacing them with solar and wind energy. Large majorities also favour other specific policies, such as preserving or expanding forested areas even if it means less land for agriculture or housing (79 percent) and requiring new buildings to be more energy and water-efficient, even if it increases their cost (77 percent).
In general, 78 percent of the respondents believe that the Indian government should do more to address global warming. Regarding the economic impact, 74 percent of the respondents believe that initiating steps to bring down global warming will either improve economic growth and create new jobs (51 percent) or have no effect on economic growth or employment (23 percent). Only 21 percent think it will reduce economic growth and jobs. Lastly, 61 percent of the respondents believe that India should increase its use of renewable sources of energy, while only 14 percent think India should expand its use of fossil fuels.
The survey found that a majority of people are engaged or willing to make lifestyle changes to protect the environment.