Japan’s Public Awareness of Climate Crisis at Global Low

A survey by the French-based polling company Ipsos on People and Climate Change highlighted the low level of awareness of climate change issues in Japanese society. The survey was conducted from late January to early February, targeting 23,745 people in 32 countries.

When respondents were asked if they agreed with the statement that “if individuals like me do not act now to combat climate change, we will be failing future generations,” only 40% of Japanese agreed, which was the lowest among the surveyed countries.

While overall between 2021 and 2025, a decrease was seen in the percentage of people agreeing that individuals needed to act now to combat climate change, out of the 26 countries that were surveyed in both years, the 19% drop in Japan was the steepest. It appears that, over a short period of time, the sense of immediacy has been lost.

Japan also showed low awareness of government and corporate action toward climate change. Out of the 32 surveyed countries, agreement with the two statements “if your government does not act now to combat climate change, it will be failing the people of your country” and “if businesses in your country do not act now to combat climate change, they will be failing their employees and customers,” was significantly lower, indicating that they had fewer expectations for government and corporate measures compared to other countries.

Just 11% of Japanese respondents agreed with the statement “your country is a global leader in the fight against climate change,” only ahead of Hungary, which ranked last with 7%.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)