Following on from the G7 Summit in France, a new study by the Potential Energy Coalition and The Rockefeller Foundation has found that public support for climate action remains strong across the world’s largest economies.
The groups’ study, Fixing Climate Communications, was based on surveys with more than 83,000 adults across six of the G7 nations – the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the United States and Canada – and found widespread support for increased government action on climate change.
However, at the same time, it found that the messaging used to discuss climate issues can play an important role in influencing public engagement and support in each country. In France, for example, health resonates strongest with consumers, while in Italy, cost-of-living arguments gain the strongest penetration.
‘Resonate and motivate’
“The climate crisis is already making it harder for people around the world to feed their families, get and work jobs, and pursue lives of dignity,” commented Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, president, The Rockefeller Foundation.
“Meeting this challenge with the urgency it demands requires speaking about it in ways that resonate and motivate. This research shows how data-driven communication can shape a better conversation about how to tackle the climate crisis and build a safer and more prosperous future.”
For example, where messaging is focused around shared concerns – such as pollution, health, affordability, energy security, and protecting future generations – support increased by more than 10 percentage points in the six countries featured.
However, where the focus was on bans, mandates, disruption, or ‘net zero’, support dropped.
Public discussion
The study also noted a ‘broad, persistent retreat’ in public discussions about climate, citing recent GlobeScan research that found that across 31 markets, the the share of consumers seeing sustainability messaging fell from 49% in 2023 to 36% in 2025, while trust in those messages dropped from 79% to 65%.
In addition, global news coverage of climate change has fallen by close to two thirds (38%) between 2021 and 2025, while mentions of climate and ESG issues on S&P 500 earnings calls have dropped by roughly three-quarters over the same period.
Climate hushing
“Climate is a winning issue when communicated effectively,” commented John Marshall, executive chair at the Potential Energy Coalition. “Climate hushing is short-sighted and ineffective; the data refutes the growing conventional wisdom that leaders should avoid talking about climate and rely only on a side door of clean energy or economic benefits.
“This is not about whether to talk about climate, but how – moving beyond narrow, easily politicised frames and connecting instead to the real material costs, impacts, and everyday concerns that can significantly expand public support.”
The study identified three principles for effective climate communication, including focusing on everyday consequences and real human impacts; making the causes of climate change more tangible and ‘concrete’; and framing clean energy in terms of the benefits it offers – lower costs, energy independents – rather than costs and restrictions. Read more here.
