On average, 56% of people in 34 countries say climate change has already had a severe effect where they live, and 71%, including a majority of respondents in every country, expect climate change to have a severe effect in their regions over the next ten years, the World Economic Forum- (WEF-) Ipsos Global Survey on ‘Climate Change: Severity of Effects and Expectations of Displacement’ has found.

The survey polled 23 507 adults between July and August 5, on their expectations for the next ten years and 25 years.

The survey also revealed that 35% of respondents expect to be displaced from their homes owing to climate change by 2047.

The proportion of respondents describing the effect of climate change in their areas as very or somewhat severe ranged from global lows of 25% in Sweden and 38% in Ireland, to highs of 75% in Mexico and 74% in Hungary and Turkey, averaging 56% globally.

While more than half of respondents in 22 of these countries indicated that they have already been severely impacted by climate change, in nine of these countries, namely Mexico, Hungary, Türkiye, Colombia, Spain, Italy, India, Chile and France, more than two-thirds of respondents said they had already been affected.

“This likely reflects recent events in these countries. As the survey also found notable regional differences within the countries where the survey took place, likely reflecting recent experiences with extreme heat, drought, forest fires or floods.

“For example, the prevalence of people saying they had already experienced severe effects of climate change was significantly higher for greater London than the national average, in British Columbia compared to the rest Canada, and the western region of the US, south-eastern France, southern Germany, north-eastern Italy, and eastern Hungary,” the survey report authors noted.

“We are in a climate crisis. The survey results affirm that across the world, people already feel the effects today and fear for their futures tomorrow,” said WEF Centre for Nature and Climate MD Gim Huay Neo.

“The crisis affects everyone. We have to work together to adapt to climate change and, concurrently, accelerate and scale action towards a healthier, greener and more sustainable planet. We need a holistic and systems approach involving all stakeholders – governments, businesses and civil society – to co-create solutions and effectively respond to this crisis,” she emphasised.

Further, in ten countries, at least four in five of respondents expected very severe or somewhat severe impacts in the next decade. Portugal at 88%, Mexico and Hungary at 86%, Türkiye and Chile at 85%, South Korea and Spain at 83%, Italy at 81%, France and Romania at 80% topped the list.

“The countries where expectations about severe climate effects in the next decade were lowest were Malaysia at 52%, China at 55%, Sweden at 56%, Thailand at 57% and Saudi Arabia at 60%,” the survey showed.

On average across all the countries surveyed, 71% said they expect climate change to have a very or somewhat severe impact in their area over the next ten years, with 30% selecting very severe and 41% somewhat severe as their response.

This reflects a 15-point increase on the percentage of respondents saying climate change has already had a severe impact where they live. The difference was highest in Sweden at 31 points and Portugal at 30 points.

One exception was Saudi Arabia, where more said climate change had already had a severe impact than believe it will have a severe impact over the next ten years, the report authors noted.

Further, 35% of respondents said it was likely that they or their families would be displaced from their homes as a result of climate change in the next quarter of a century. Of these, 10% said very likely and 25% responded that it was somewhat likely.

“The countries where climate change induced displacement was seen as most likely were India at 65% and Türkiye at 64%, by a large margin. However, almost half of people surveyed in Malaysia at 49%, Brazil at 49%, Spain at 46%, and South Africa at 45% also shared these concerns.

“In contrast, fewer than one in four expected to be displaced from their homes in Sweden at 17%, Argentina at 21%, the Netherlands at 21%, and Poland at 23%,” the report noted.