A new, independent report has claimed that more conservatives are worried about climate change than liberals. But the important question is: what should be done with that information?
In a Savanta survey of more than 8,000 people in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Poland, British NGO Zero Ideas reports that among people who consider themselves to be on the political right, significant majorities categorize themselves as either “very worried” or “somewhat worried” about climate change. The survey found that 72% of conservative-learning voters in the UK and Poland, 66% in Germany, and 61% in the U.S. consider themselves to be worried about climate change.
Here’s where it gets complicated: those proportions are smaller than the numbers of left- and liberal-leaning people who are worried about climate change. In the U.S., for example, 89% of people who regard themselves as Democrats are worried about climate change. However, the Savanta survey found that just 23.6% of respondents regarded themselves as being left of center, while 40.1% saw themselves as being conservative, or right of center. In their report, Zero Ideas claims this means that, overall, more right-leaning people are concerned about global warming.
“Numerically, there are more climate-worried people on the right than on the left,” says Zero Ideas founder Simon Glynn. “Where that comes from is there’s more people on the right than on the left; that’s how the world is these days, in terms of where people place themselves.”
That’s a bold claim, not least because the Savanta survey is an outlier: while recent polling from YouGov suggests conservatives do represent the largest single political block in the U.S., large numbers of voters continue to regard themselves as aligning with the “center,” being neither of the right nor the left. In the U.K., similar polls tend to indicate the British left-bloc is larger than the right, and there exists a similarly large block in the center.
Nevertheless, Zero Ideas’ conclusions are more closely aligned with existing research than many people might assume.
Climate Worry Is Universal
Lorraine Whitmarsh, a professor of environmental psychology and director of the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations at the University of Bath, says the report’s findings are not all that surprising.
“In other polling, you get higher support on the left than on the right on climate concern,” Whitmarsh tells me. “But it certainly has been narrowing.”
Whitmarsh, who is also an advisor to the influential Climate Crisis Advisory Group, points to work by the U.K. NGO Climate Barometer, which finds that, across the political spectrum, there continues to be broad consensus around concern about climate change. This picture holds globally, with multiple academic studies finding majority support for climate action in every country surveyed, couple with widespread underestimation among the public of that support. A 2024 study of 130,000 people published in Nature Climate Change found that 89% of people want their governments to do more to tackle climate change. In short, despite the rhetoric of political figures such as Donald Trump, who falsely claim climate change is a hoax, most people recognize climate reality.
“Climate worry is almost the same on the right as it is on the left, is another way of putting it,” Whitmarsh says. “Most people are worried about climate change, irrespective of their politics.”
So if that’s the case, what should be done about it?
One Size Doesn’t Fit All
Glynn suggests that the abundance of climate concern on the right means political leaders ought to adjust climate policy and messaging to accommodate more conservative political worldviews.
“It’s very easy to assume that climate is a progressive cause because it often gets lumped in with progressive causes by the people who pursue it,” Glynn tells me. “Currently a lot of the climate narratives don’t connect with what conservatives are interested in.”
Sam Hall, director of the U.K.’s Conservative Environment Network, agrees, saying that when it comes to climate messaging, one size does not fit all.
“The challenge in why climate action has been a harder political sell for conservatives in recent years is because of the approach that has been taken by politicians, which has been more of a left-wing approach to dealing with things,” Hall tells me. “If we want to activate those climate-concerned conservative voters to support climate action, we have to have distinctly conservative messages and policy solutions to tackle the problem.”
What would that look like? Hall says such messaging would “apply conservative principles to environmental challenges,” such as a preference for free markets, free trade, individual choice and personal responsibility. Moreover, he says, “There is a skepticism on the right about overly negative and apocalyptic narratives. I think people want to be told a more hopeful story that action is possible and will bring wider benefits as well.”
Glynn says there are lots of opportunities to highlight climate actions that align with conventional conservative values, such as emphasizing the national security advantages of distributed renewable energy grids. “Conservatives are more like to respond well to positive opportunities that play to the strengths of their country,” he says.
Hall agrees, adding that environmentalism and conservation are conventionally conservative values.
“In the U.K. there has for a long time been thread of Conservative concern about climate change going all the way back to Margaret Thatcher and, more recently, people like Boris Johnson and Theresa May, who were advocates of environmental action,” he says. “Part of our role is to remind British Conservatives of that long heritage.”
Shhh … Don’t Say Climate
Whitmarsh, meanwhile, says academic research offers clues as to the sorts of policies that appeal to more conservative voters. In research published last year by the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, Whitmarsh and he colleagues found cross-party support for climate policies that emphasize affordable home heating, as well as measures to improve air quality.
“If you want to reduce emissions from buildings, for example, there is giant public support for policies that support home insulation and energy efficiency. You can emphasize health, well-being, jobs and prosperity,” she says.
Policy design is also crucial, research released this week from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany shows. In a perspective published in Nature Climate Change about policies on domestic heating, the authors recommend that, rather than a one-size-fits-all ban on gas boilers, they conclude there should be moderate, targeted regulation based on the considerations and circumstances that drive certain household groups to purchase heat pumps or gas boilers. “The irony is that both schools of thought are correct under certain conditions,” says Ottmar Edenhofer, one of the study authors and director of the Institute.
“The take home for me, from all of this, is that you don’t even need to talk about climate change to get voter support for policies that are aligned with reducing emissions,” says Whitmarsh. “It’s about understanding which of those things are important to your audience and then aligning your message accordingly.”