Report · Nov 13, 2026
New international poll: 85% across 18 countries support action to reduce methane emissions
Filed under: Beliefs & Attitudes and Policy & Politics
Report Summary
As world leaders gather in Antalya, Türkiye, for COP31, reducing methane emissions is a critical agenda item. Methane is a super-pollutant that traps 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, and is responsible for roughly 30% of global warming since preindustrial times. Because most methane breaks down within about a decade, reducing methane emissions is one of the fastest ways to limit global warming in the near term.
With COP31 underway, we’re sharing findings from a new international survey commissioned in collaboration with the Global Methane Hub examining public attitudes toward climate change and methane emissions across 18 countries in four continents.
The research finds broad public support for action: 85% of respondents across the 18 countries surveyed support reducing methane emissions. Support is particularly strong in South Korea (94%), Malaysia and China (90%), and Brazil, Nigeria and South Africa (89%).
Other Key Findings
- People support action to reduce the major sources of methane emissions. Support extends across waste, agriculture, and energy. For example, on average, 86% of adults surveyed support action to reduce methane emissions from waste.
- People experiencing climate impacts are more supportive of methane action. Respondents reported concern about climate impacts in their communities, including extreme heat, wildfires, drought, flooding, and water quality. Across the countries surveyed, the more a respondent reports experiencing the impacts of climate change, the more supportive they are of actions to address climate change, reinforcing the connection between the effects people see and feel in their daily lives and their desire for solutions.
- The public largely favors policymakers who act on methane emissions. In all 18 countries, more adults say action on methane would improve rather than worsen their view of policymakers, including 76% in Nigeria, 74% in China, 73% in Indonesia, 72% in Brazil, 55% in Spain, and 53% in Italy.
The findings arrive at an important moment. As policymakers gather at COP31 to discuss the next steps in global climate action, this research shows that across very different national contexts, there is strong public support for reducing methane emissions.
Explore the full international survey results here.
Methods
Global Strategy Group conducted a 10-minute online poll between August 3 and August 25, 2026, translated into 13 languages across Europe, South America, Africa and Asia.
In each country, responses were collected from people currently residing in the country who are 18 years of age or older and who have internet access. Weights were applied to age, gender, geography and education to ensure collected samples were representative of adults 18+ who have internet access in each country.
A minimum of 700 responses were collected in 15 countries: Denmark, the United Kingdom, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, South Africa, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Morocco and Brazil. The margin of error is ±3.7% for these countries, with the exception of Morocco and Brazil, where it is ±3.6%. In the remaining three countries, a minimum of 400 responses were collected. The margins of error are ±4.9% in Ethiopia, ±4.5% in Paraguay and ±3.9% in Uruguay.