---
title: "4. Global climate change as a threat"
description: "Majorities in 22 of 25 nations surveyed say global climate change is a major threat to their country. In many places, this view is more common among those on the left."
date: "2025-08-19"
authors:
  - name: "Jacob Poushter"
    job_title: "Associate Director, Global Attitudes Research"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/jacob-poushter/"
  - name: "Moira Fagan"
    job_title: "Research Associate"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/moira-fagan/"
  - name: "Maria Smerkovich"
    job_title: "Research Associate"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/maria-smerkovich/"
  - name: "Andrew Prozorovsky"
    job_title: "Research Assistant"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/andrew-prozorovsky/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/08/19/global-climate-change-as-a-threat/"
categories:
  - "Environment & Climate"
  - "Global Economy & Trade"
  - "Global Health"
  - "International Issues"
  - "International Terrorism"
  - "Misinformation Online"
datasets:
  - name: "Spring 2025 Survey Data"
    url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/dataset/spring-2025-survey-data/"
---

# 4. Global climate change as a threat

[![A bar chart showing that Majorities in most surveyed nations see climate change as a major threat](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/pg_2025.08.19_global-threats_4_01.png?w=310)](https://www.pewresearch.org/?attachment_id=272528)

- A median of 67% of adults across 25 nations say global climate change is a major threat to their country. Another 24% say it is a minor threat, and 9% say it is not a threat.

- In many of the high-income countries we surveyed in both 2022 and 2025, the share of adults who see climate change as a major threat has decreased significantly.

Majorities in all but three countries – Israel, Nigeria and the U.S. – see climate change as a major threat. Around eight-in-ten hold this view in Argentina, Brazil, France, Japan and South Korea.

About a quarter of Israelis (24%) say climate change is *not* a threat – the largest share to take this stance across the countries surveyed. In the U.S., about a fifth of adults (19%) say the same.

#### Views over time

The share of adults who say climate change is a major threat has increased in many places since 2013, when we first asked this question internationally. In Turkey, for example, 47% of adults thought of climate change as a major threat in 2013. This year, 70% of Turks express this view.

[![A table showing that Views of climate change as a threat are down in many high-income countries since 2022, up in some middle-income countries since last asked](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/pg_2025.08.19_global-threats_4_02.png?w=420)](https://www.pewresearch.org/?attachment_id=272551)

However, since 2022, the share of people who view climate change as a major threat has decreased in many of the 16 [high-income countries](https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/opendata/world-bank-country-classifications-by-income-level-for-2024-2025) surveyed. This is especially the case in Greece, Italy and the Netherlands, where people are 11 points less likely today than in 2022 to see climate change as a major threat. (Read [Appendix A](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/08/19/appendix-a-economic-categorization-of-high-and-middle-income-countries/) for more information on how we classify high- and middle-income countries.)

#### Views by ideology

In 15 surveyed countries, people who place themselves on the ideological left are much more likely than those on the right to view climate change as a major threat.

[![A dot plot showing that Large ideological divides on views of climate change as a threat](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/pg_2025.08.19_global-threats_4_03.png?w=310)](https://www.pewresearch.org/?attachment_id=272529)

The largest difference is in the U.S., where liberals are more than four times as likely as conservatives to say this (84% vs. 20%).

People on the right have become less likely since 2022 to call climate change a major threat in several countries. In Poland, for example, 40% of those on the right say this today, down from 63% three years ago.

#### Views by support for right-wing populist parties

Europeans who support right-wing populist parties tend to be much less likely than nonsupporters to say climate change is a major threat. This is the case across all right-wing populist parties we analyzed. (Read [Appendix B](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/08/19/appendix-b-classifying-european-political-parties/) for more information on how we classify populist parties.)

For example, a quarter of Germans with a favorable view of Alternative for Germany (AfD) say climate change is a major threat, compared with 78% of those who have an unfavorable view of AfD.

#### Views by age

In several countries – including Australia, France, Turkey and the U.S. – adults under 35 are more likely than those ages 50 and older to see climate change as a major threat. But the reverse is true in Argentina, Japan, South Korea and Sweden.

---

**Next:** [5. Spread of infectious diseases as a threat](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/08/19/spread-of-infectious-diseases-as-a-threat.md)