The climate majority

There is a little-known fact about the climate crisis: the overwhelming majority of the world’s people want their governments to take stronger action.

The 89 Percent Project is a partnership among news sources across the globe that builds on many recent scientific studies finding that between 80-89% of the world’s population want stronger climate action. This overwhelming global majority, however, does not realize that they are a majority; most think their fellow citizens don’t agree.

For years most coverage of the climate crisis has been defensive. People who support climate action are implicitly told – by their elected officials, by the fossil fuel industry, by news coverage and social media discourse – that theirs is a minority, even a fringe, view. That is not what the new research finds.

The most recent study in 2024 found that, among poorer countries, where roughly four out of five of the world’s inhabitants live, 89% of the public wanted stronger climate action. In richer, industrialized countries, roughly two out of three people wanted stronger action. Combining rich and poor populations, 80% of people globally want more climate action from their governments.

Who are the people who comprise the 89%? Given that support for climate action varies by country – the figure is 74% in the US, 80% in India, 90% in Burkina Faso – does support also vary by age, gender, political affiliation and economic status? What do members of the climate majority want from their political and community leaders? What obstacles are standing in the way?

A study published by Nature Climate Change noted that the overwhelming global majority does not know it is the majority: “[I]ndividuals around the globe systematically underestimate the willingness of their fellow citizens to act,” the report states. Experts agree breaking this “spiral of silence” could encourage critical climate action.

Taken together, the new research overturns the conventional wisdom about climate opinion. At a time when many governments and companies are stalling or retreating from rapidly phasing out the fossil fuels that are driving deadly heat, fires and floods, more than eight out of 10 human beings on the planet want their political representatives to preserve a livable future. This offers a much-needed ray of hope. The question is whether and how that mass sentiment might be translated into effective action.

What would it mean if this silent climate majority woke up – if its members came to understand just how many people, both in distant lands and in their own communities, think and feel like they do? How might this majority’s actions – as citizens, as consumers, as voters – change? If the current narrative in news and social media shifted from one of retreat and despair to one of self-confidence and common purpose, would people shift from being passive observers to active shapers of their shared future? If so, what kinds of climate action would they demand from their leaders?

If most of the climate majority have no idea they are the majority, do they also not realize that defusing the climate crisis is by no means impossible? Scientists have long said that humanity possesses the tools and knowhow necessary to limit temperature rise to the Paris agreement’s aspirational target of the 1.5°C above preindustrial levels. What has been lacking is the political will to implement those tools and leave fossil fuels behind. The 89% Project will culminate in a second joint week of coverage before the COP30 United Nations climate meeting in Brazil in November.

SOURCES: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/22/89-percent-project-…
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/commentisfree/2025/apr/23/clima…