https://phys.org/news/2026-05-climate-action-stalls-widespread-popular.html
by Laurie Parsons, The Conversation
Excerpt: Successive polls indicate overwhelming public support for resolving excessive carbon emissions and the problems this excessive use of fossil fuels is creating for communities around the world.
In the UK, 60% of people support net zero. In Germany, 81% of the population want to expand renewable energy, while 55% cite it as “very important to them.” In Italy, 80% of people support a renewables-only energy policy.
Even in the US, 57% want the government to do more to address climate change.
With the exception of the US, this majority is greater than that which has elected any political party since the turn of the 20th century. So with a super-majority in favor of decarbonization, how does the world remain stuck on such a steep upwards trajectory of carbon emissions?
Almost every country has a stated commitment to decarbonization. Wind and solar energy are the cheapest forms of energy in history.
Yet a record quantity of carbon was pumped into the atmosphere last year. And record amounts of coal, oil and gas are still being extracted from Earth.
Statistics like this can make even thinking about climate change a demoralizing business. This is precisely the problem. Our overwhelming political will is sapped by being locked into a system that obscures the most effective pathways (phasing out fossil fuels, for example), while continually moving us towards less effective ones.
If you’re worried that global garment production is on course to triple in size by 2050, common narratives suggest that simply choosing the “greenest” brand will help fix the problem. Worried about the carbon cost of flying? Never fear: a budget airline’s apocryphal claims to be sustainable can assuage that nagging guilt.
