Climate attitudes are changing among consumers creating an opportunity for brands

Growing up in 1980s America, I distinctly remember watching environmental attitudes change. I was riveted by the growing Earth Day movement, widely publicised and increasingly adopted to such a degree that girls shamed each other at school for using aerosol products with ozone-depleting CFCs. And this was the era of big hair, so making such a sacrifice of hairspray was a very big deal.

Much has changed in the decades since then. By 2014, our Ipsos Global Trends study found that an impressive 73% of global citizens agreed that “we are heading for environmental disaster unless we change our habits quickly”. By 2024, that figure had increased to 80%, a signifier of how much we have come to a consensus that climate change is real and a problem we need to solve. But it’s been a long road to this point — and there’s still a lot we don’t agree on.

Looking back at how attitudes have changed over time can often give us a clue to how they may evolve in the future. New studies and insights published this month provide a pulse on how global citizens are feeling about climate change, and the barriers we still face as individuals, brands and governments.

Attitude adjustment

Even as recently as ten years ago, public consensus on climate change was still divided, many thought climate change wasn’t an issue and wasn’t caused by humans. In our Global Trends study at the time, 41% of the global population thought that climate change was a natural phenomenon that simply happens from time to time – a sentiment that was higher in Great Britain and the US, at 48% and 52% respectively.

That has largely changed, according to a new study Ipsos released on People and Climate Change. The study found that 74% of global citizens are concerned about the impacts of climate change that are already being seen in their country. And in 18 of the 27 countries surveyed there has been an increase in concern—especially in countries at greater risk from climate change.

Changing the ‘mental model’: How brands are nudging consumers towards sustainabilityIn the 2015 Paris Agreement, world leaders aimed to limit global average temperature increases to 1.5˚celcius above pre-industrial levels to address the most significant risks of climate change. Last year was the warmest on record, and the first year above the 1.5˚C target, and tellingly, people recognise the importance of this failing. A majority across 32 countries in our Climate Change study agreed that it’s a big deal if global average temperatures surpass the figure.

Indeed, nearly two thirds of citizens we surveyed agreed that, “If individuals like me do not act now to combat climate change, we will be failing future generations.”

Should marketers lead the sustainability agenda in business?However, in every country we surveyed the urgency to act has dropped over the last four years, and allow that to sink in for a second. The consistency of this drop is staggering. I believe it reflects a widespread perception of the shift in responsibility from “me” to “we”, recognizing the systemic causes of climate change are beyond one individual’s control. In our Global Trends study, we found a similar sentiment: 72% said they’re “already doing all that I can to save the environment”.

Whether or not this is influenced to a fatalistic view of the world, as I suggested in our trend Nouveau Nihilism, is tougher to discern. But individual actions do make a difference collectively – and the impact is significant. The G7 countries make up a significant portion of global emissions, and our study showed that their citizens are less likely to feel like they need to personally fight climate change.

Financial worries hamper progress

The People and Climate Change study showed that in much of Europe people believe transitioning to renewables will actually lead to an increase in energy prices.

With the threat of a global recession looming and years of rising prices impacting the affordability of everyday goods, concerns about price are overshadowing the drive for sustainable options. A recent Ipsos survey in the UK, for example, found that price is the most important purchase decision factor for British consumers, with 93% rating it as very/somewhat important. This is followed by product/service quality (92%) and convenience (88%), with only 66% of Britons rating environmental impact as very/somewhat important.

And compared to a year ago, two thirds of Britons say that the price of an item has become more important when making purchase decisions.

Lack of trust in brands and government

Despite the number of sustainable brands growing over the last few decades, the issue of greenwashing persists. Only one in five citizens in our climate change study said they trust environmental claims made by companies. Similarly, in our most recent Global Trends study nearly 4 in 5 citizens said that brands do not pay enough attention to the environment, and that companies’ impacts on the environment should be more closely controlled by the government.

And yet, there is an expectation for both businesses and governments to act: over 60% globally said that if businesses and governments in their country “do not act now to combat climate change, they will be failing their employees and customers”.

Where do we go from here?

All of this reflects what many of us have heard anecdotally from friends, colleagues and family. There’s a growing worry about climate change but alongside it an awareness of its systemic nature and the impact of government policy and corporate actions.

Case in point is the debate happening on recycling plastics. If less than 10 percent of plastic waste is recycled and much of it is shipped to other nations or ends up in waterways and our bodies, why bother trying to recycle it at all?

Yet the number of citizens who have meaningfully reduced their plastic usage is relatively small. Realising how big a problem really is can cause consumers to give up rather than advocate for change — whether that change is needed in their habits, in families, with brands, or with governments.

Building trust and setting limitations: Marketing sustainability beyond productHowever, there are signs of real movement and dedication to solve the climate crisis. This month, a series of protests sprung up in America as part of Earth Day in response to widespread cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency, Forest Service and Federal Emergency Management Agency — and pulling out of the Paris Agreement. Again.

From the impact of increasingly severe climate-related disasters to new warnings of arsenic levels in the rice that millions depend on, new reports and media coverage are driving home the reality that climate change will affect everyone sooner or later. The warming planet will impact how people live, plan for emergencies, prepare for the future, and interact with one another — and brands have an opportunity to lead the way.

While sustainability is currently facing political headwinds and many companies are quietly pulling back, there is a strong rationale for long-term investment.

We can look for inspiration at brands who have been making progress on this front. Patagonia has been long been the leader in corporate sustainability, while Everlane managed to make radically transparent sourcing cool enough to attract A-list celebs. Stanley made sipping water out of reusable bottles fashionable. IKEA committed to making affordable furniture sustainable with a goal to be climate positive by 2030. And Clorox Company topped the Barron’s most sustainable brands list for two years running.

Some of them put their sustainability goals front and centre, while others are more muted — but what all these examples have in common is a dual focus on serving their customers and the planet. In the face of an increasingly worsening climate crisis, how can your brand begin to do the same?

Jennifer Bender is an associate partner at Ipsos Strategy3. As the head of our global practice on trends and foresight, she drives the development of methodologies to help clients anticipate and grow from change, and co-authors the annual Ipsos Global Trends study.