Ahead of COP28, 2 in 3 Americans Want the U.S. to Take Ambitious Climate Action, Even if Other Countries Don’t
By Catherine Fraser and Grace Adcox
Eight years since the Paris Climate Agreement, climate commitments from countries around the world are falling short of meeting the agreement’s goal to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius. Instead, the world is on track to reach 2.5 C of warming by 2100, a potentially catastrophic rise in global temperatures. A rise greater than 2 C would bring increased extreme weather, drought, sea level rise, and food and water scarcity, in addition to potentially leading to the loss of more than 99% of the world’s coral reefs, as well as significant amounts of the Amazon rainforest and Antarctic ice sheet.
With COP28 kicking off today, the need for ambitious climate action is ever apparent. All eyes are on the United States and China after the countries jointly announced earlier this month the revival of a bilateral climate working group, as well as plans to support new measures to grow renewable energy and cut methane and plastic pollution at COP28. The agreement could be a good omen for the proceedings at COP28 — the last time the two countries made such an agreement was ahead of COP21 in 2015, which resulted in the Paris Climate Agreement.
New polling from Data for Progress finds that voters want the U.S. to commit to ambitious climate action at COP28. A strong majority of voters (77%) view it as at least “somewhat important” for the U.S. to demonstrate that it is taking strong action on climate change. Notably, support for strong action and global leadership by the U.S. holds across party lines, with 91% of Democrats, 74% of Independents, and 63% of Republicans in support. Support also holds across age, with significant majorities of voters both under and over 45 expressing strong support for U.S. climate leadership at COP28.
Climate action at COP has been stymied in the past by holdout countries — including the U.S. — but voters are ready for the U.S. to take action at COP28, even if other countries do not. Aligned with new findings released by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, we find the majority of voters (65%) believe the U.S. should lead the world on climate, even if other countries lag behind. Support for U.S. leadership has remained strong since 2021, when Data for Progress first found 68% support for U.S. action at COP26.
Climate advocates across the world have renewed calls for allocating funds to a “loss and damage fund.” The fund, established at COP27 last year, is intended to provide financial support for climate damages to vulnerable countries. The measure was a major point of contention throughout COP27, and countries established the fund in the final hours of the conference, agreeing to sort out major details of the fund — including how it would work and which counties would fund it — during COP28.
As countries gear up to iron out the details of a loss and damage fund, Data for Progress finds that a majority of voters (58%) support establishing a global financial fund to support countries hit hard by climate change. Support for the fund is particularly strong among Democrats (78%) and voters under 45 (66%).
Negotiators at COP28 are also set to discuss the establishment of a global carbon market to regulate the trading of carbon credits with mechanisms to verify carbon offsets. Such regulations could provide much-needed assurance in a growing carbon trading market, where countries and companies seek to buy carbon offsets and advance negative emissions goals.
Ahead of COP28, Data for Progress finds that voters (52%) support the creation of a global carbon market, with support highest among Democrats (73%).
Experts say that the world needs to phase out fossil fuels to address climate change. And voters agree. Data for Progress finds that a majority of voters (53%) support countries agreeing to a phaseout of fossil fuels at COP28. Support is highest among Democrats (76%), with majorities of Independents (51%), people under 45 (57%), and people 45 and over (52%) also supporting such a phaseout.
As the U.S. attends COP28, Americans have an appetite for strong climate action and leadership from the U.S., including specific policies like phasing out fossil fuels and instituting a global climate mitigation fund.
Catherine Fraser (@cathwfraser) is the Senior Climate and Energy Program Associate at Data for Progress.
Grace Adcox (@GraceAdcox) is a polling analyst at Data for Progress.
Survey Methodology
From November 20 to 21, 2023, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1,203 likely voters nationally using web panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, race, geography, and voting history. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error is ±3 percentage points.