The general public has moved on — even when politics hasn’t.
Throughout wealthy and poor nations alike, individuals now count on financial development and environmental safety to be pursued collectively, not traded off in opposition to one another. In a survey performed by Trellis information accomplice GlobeScan, 48 p.c of individuals on common stated environmental safety and financial development aren’t mutually unique — a threefold improve from 2017. As an alternative, they count on policymakers and companies to pursue each objectives in tandem.
This shift comes as world leaders are additionally reevaluating the definition of “progress.” In February 2026, over 150 governments authorised a landmark report by the Intergovernmental Science-Coverage Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Providers warning that GDP-focused development has fueled biodiversity loss. The report urged a transition to various fashions, from the round economic system to “inclusive wealth” and even degrowth methods that ship prosperity whereas safeguarding nature.
The transfer towards balancing environmental and financial objectives is rising in each rising and developed economies. Public opinion inserting equal precedence on each objectives skyrocketed roughly 45 proportion factors in the UK and U.S. Massive will increase had been additionally seen in India, Nigeria, Brazil and China. This putting convergence in opinion throughout areas suggests a widespread rethinking of the previous “atmosphere versus economic system” mindset.
What this implies
Public opinion is transferring decisively past the concept that societies should select between financial development and environmental safety. Throughout areas, individuals more and more count on each objectives to be pursued collectively. This stands in distinction to political narratives in some nations that body environmental safety as a brake on financial progress.
For policymakers, this means better social permission than typically assumed to pursue financial methods that combine sustainability, resilience and lengthy‑time period worth creation. For NGOs and civil society, the information level to a possibility to maneuver past “atmosphere versus economic system” debates and advance shared options that resonate with a broad and more and more aligned public consensus. And for companies, these findings strengthen the case for embedding sustainability into core enterprise fashions and worth creation approaches slightly than treating it as a constraint or threat.
Based mostly on a survey of almost 32,000 individuals performed July — August 2025.