Global Review of Climate Action

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

The voice of the world in numbers

Nov. 19, 2024

Welcome to Front Page, where we break down Gallup's latest insights on our constantly evolving world. Here are the five insights you shouldn't miss this week:

1. Global Review of Climate Action

World Map: Satisfaction with efforts to preserve the environment, by country, in 2023.

The Data: The COP 29 UNFCCC Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, concludes on Friday. In 2023, nearly two-thirds of adults worldwide reported being satisfied with efforts to preserve the environment in their country. However, satisfaction rates varied widely, from as high as 95% in Saudi Arabia to as low as 17% in Bulgaria and Tunisia.

Host Insight: Satisfaction in Azerbaijan, the conference host, was close to the global average, with 63% satisfied with efforts to preserve the environment.

More Environment Data

2. U.S. Support for Death Penalty Has Waned

Line Chart: 53% of Americans say they are in favor of the death penalty for convicted murderers in 2024.

The Data: Over half of Americans (53%) are in favor of the death penalty for convicted murderers in the U.S. The 2024 figure, which matches the percentage in favor last year, remains at the lowest level of support since 1972. In the interim, support peaked at 80% in 1994 and was routinely at 60% or higher through 2016.

Generational Differences: The long-term decrease in the percentage backing the death penalty is mostly driven by those born after 1980 — namely, millennials and Gen Zers — among whom less than half now favor the death penalty.

Full Story

3. Complaints on Taxes Vary Widely

Bar Chart: Americans' perceptions that their federal income taxes are too high, by party.

The Data: Partisan differences in views of taxes are at least as powerful as income in predicting views of personal tax burdens.

Detailed Breakdown: While Democrats' views of federal income taxes are consistent across income brackets, higher-earning Republicans and independents are more likely than their lower-income counterparts to say their taxes are excessive.

Go Deeper

4. East Meets West Germany

Range Plot: Confidence in the police, military and judiciary in East and West Germany, 2008 to 2024.

The Data: Confidence in key institutions — including the police, the military, the judiciary, education and healthcare — has historically differed between East and West Germany. But the gaps have narrowed significantly over the past decade and a half.

Context: Thirty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Gallup data show that people living in the former East and West Germany have more similarities than differences in how they view many aspects of their lives. Across 53 core indicators measured in Gallup's annual public opinion polling in Germany between 2008-2010 and 2022-2024, 18 have converged (that is, the gap between the former East and West has shrunk by at least five percentage points).

Full Story

5. Gallup Vault: The Dawn of Consumer Credit

Donut Chart: 36% of Americans were paying for something on an installment plan in 1941.

The Data: In 1941, before credit cards became mainstream, 70% of Americans reported they had ever engaged in installment buying, with 36% saying they were actively paying for something on an installment plan.

The History: Credit cards came into wide use in the 1970s. Before that, “installment buying,” introduced in the 1920s, was based on the same principle, allowing consumers to pay off store purchases directly over time rather than a third-party lender. Gallup likely measured Americans' use of installment plans in 1941 because the consumer demand it created for durable goods was competing for resources needed to prepare for the impending war effort.