Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

1. Adoption of Behaviors That Limit Climate Change

Respondents were asked whether they had engaged in six behaviors (each of which can reduce carbon emissions): reducing food waste, reducing meat consumption, buying carbon offsets, installing a heat pump, installing rooftop solar panels, or buying or leasing an electric vehicle.Note that the survey questions did not tell respondents that these behaviors were relevant to reducing carbon emissions. Additionally, these questions were asked before the questions about respondents’ climate change beliefs and attitudes (as described in “International Public Opinion on Climate Change, 2023.”). Overall, the behaviors that have a lower initial cost (such as reducing food waste and meat consumption) are much more common than behaviors that entail large initial cost (such as converting to heat pumps and purchasing electric vehicles).

Across all countries and territories surveyed, respondents were most likely to say they had tried to reduce their food waste in the prior month, with about two-thirds of respondents (66%) saying they had done so. An additional 7% said they had not done this but wanted to. Eighteen percent said they had not done this, while 8% said this behavior was not applicable to them.

Respondents were next most likely to say they had tried to eat less meat in the prior month, with 39% of respondents saying they had done so. An additional 6% said they had not tried to eat less meat but wanted to, while 45% said they had not done this, and 9% said this behavior was not applicable to them.

Adoption rates were lower for all other behaviors included in the study. Sixteen percent of respondents said they had ever bought carbon offsets, which fund projects that reduce carbon (such as planting trees), while 7% said they had not done this but wanted to, 60% said they had never done this, and 16% said this behavior was not applicable to them.

About one in ten respondents (12%) said they had converted their household heating and cooling to a heat pump (a device that uses electricity more efficiently to heat and cool homes by transferring heat from one place to another), while 8% said they had not done this but wanted to, 57% said they had not done this, and 22% said this behavior was not applicable to them.

Nine percent of respondents said they had converted their household electricity to come from rooftop solar panels, while 16% said they had not done this but wanted to (the highest percentage for this response across the six behaviors), 57% said they had not done this, and 18% said this behavior was not applicable to them.

Finally, 7% of respondents said they have owned or leased an electric car or truck, while 8% said they have not done this but want to, 71% said they have not done this, and 13% say this behavior was not applicable to them.

Adoption rates for each behavior for each country and territory surveyed are summarized in the sections that follow and are presented in full in Appendix II (p. 40).