Since 2021, the Climate Culture Index has tracked how Americans think about, talk about, and engage with climate solutions. It is one of the most comprehensive behavioral datasets available for understanding not just what people believe, but how social norms, misperceptions, and cultural context shape whether action happens at all.
This fourth edition is designed for leaders who shape stories, norms, and decisions — including policymakers, communicators, funders, and culture-makers. It offers evidence that Americans are more aligned, more supportive, and more willing to engage on climate solutions than our public discourse reflects — and shows where misperceptions are limiting momentum.
Download the full 2025 Climate Culture Index report to access complete data, charts, and analyses.
Executive Summary Insights
Across four editions, the Climate Culture Index has tracked people’s reported adoption, consideration, and perception of seven high-impact climate-relevant behaviors:
The Index also measures social norms, perceived norms, personal benefit, self-efficacy, and support for policies related to each behavior. Together, the insights below highlight where climate action is constrained by misperceptions, cultural signals, and uneven mobilization, rather than by opposition.
Top insights from the report:
Insight 1: Across the policies measured, support levels remained largely stable year over year. However, Americans consistently underestimate the number of others who support these policies by roughly 30 percentage points. This perception gap may suppress confidence and momentum for action.
Insight 2: Willingness to contact elected officials increased. Notably, these gains primarily came from Republican supporters of specific climate policies, who were roughly twice as likely as last year to say they would contact their representatives.
Insight 3: Mobilization is strongest on culturally salient issues. Political engagement increased most on electric vehicle (EV) and meat reduction policies, where identity and norms can play a larger role. More economically framed policies showed smaller increases in engagement.
Insight 4: Interest in learning about several climate policies rose. Across several policies, Americans said they want to learn more. This suggests an opportunity to share practical, accessible information that helps people better understand the policies and what they mean in real life.
Why the Climate Culture Index Insights Matter for Leaders Shaping Climate Action
The Index helps leaders understand why climate action so often stalls despite widespread concern. It provides evidence of public readiness for climate action on these targeted behaviors, and the social and behavioral factors that influence decision-making. By measuring both actual attitudes and perceived norms, the Index reveals how misperceptions, visibility, and cultural context influence whether people feel able, or motivated, to act.
Leaders can use these findings to:
- Correct misperceptions that make climate action seem riskier or less popular than it is
- Increase the visibility of climate solutions to strengthen social norms
- Design policies and programs that highlight personal and community benefits
- Engage supportive constituencies, including conservatives
- Tailor communication and narrative strategies that reflect how culture shapes climate behavior
The Climate Culture Index does not measure whether Americans “care” about climate change. It measures the cultural signals and social norms around key climate actions – factors associated with people’s intention to act.
Climate Culture Index 2025 Results
Top-level behavioral results
Highlighted behavioral insights
- In 2025, about 93% of Americans say people should reduce the amount of food waste they produce because it’s the right thing to do – the highest share recorded since 2021.
- The perceived personal benefits of eating less beef declined further (since the 2024 Index). This points to opportunities for improved messaging that better connects climate actions with tangible personal and community benefits.
- A majority of Americans say people should install rooftop solar because it’s the right thing to do (63%), and a smaller majority says the same about signing up for community solar (54%).
- Perceptions of social norms remained largely flat, underscoring the importance of making climate actions more visible in everyday life.
Top-level policy results
For the seven climate behaviors, the Index also measured both actual and perceived support for a set of climate-related policies identified as “on the margin,” where public backing could meaningfully influence whether the policies are enacted:
Climate-related policies
- Drive an EV: Your state provides an upfront cash rebate for the purchase or lease of a fully electric vehicle.
- Install solar panels: When solar panels produce more electricity than a home consumes, your utility offers to buy that excess electricity, lowering the homeowner’s utility bill.
- Sign up for community solar: Your utility guarantees households who sign up for community solar energy at least 5% savings on their annual electricity cost.
- Buy carbon offsets: The federal government requires all travel providers to offer customers an option to purchase carbon offsets.
- Install a heat pump: Your state provides an upfront cash rebate for the purchase of a heat pump.
- Eat less beef: Your state increases the availability of vegetable and plant-based options in state-owned or operated facilities, such as public schools, universities, and healthcare facilities.
- Reduce food waste: The federal government establishes a uniform food date labeling system to help consumers make accurate decisions about discarding food.
Highlighted policy insights
- People’s interest in learning about policies relating to carbon offsets, heat pumps, community solar, and food waste reduction increased.
- Eat Less Beef: Policy support for increasing the availability of vegetable and plant-based options in state-owned or operated facilities grew while perceived personal benefits of eating less beef declined. Willingness to contact representatives increased among supporters.
- Reduce Food Waste: Small gains in policy support, with moderate growth in willingness to contact representatives. Broad bipartisan support for the climate policy.
- EV Adoption: A large partisan gap persists, yet Republican supporters showed a higher willingness to contact elected officials to express support.
- Solar and Community Solar: Support remained stable and high, with modest increases in engagement, though at lower levels than culturally salient issues like beef reduction.
- Heat Pumps: Steady support and gradual year-over-year engagement growth.
The Key Takeaways
The 2025 Climate Culture Index finds that Americans are more aligned, more supportive, and more willing to engage on climate solutions than public debate often suggests. While support varies by policy, the data consistently challenges the idea that climate action is deeply polarizing or politically immovable.
- Support levels across the policies remained largely stable over time, with many achieving broad bipartisan backing.
- Americans significantly underestimate public support, often by about 30 percentage points. People believe far fewer Americans support climate policies than actually do.
- Willingness to contact representatives rose 3 to 5 points across most policies.
- These gains came entirely from supporters, not opponents or skeptics. Republican supporters showed some of the strongest increases in political engagement.
The real barrier to climate action isn’t public opposition — it’s the widespread misperception that there is opposition, which can suppress engagement and slow policy momentum.
Explore this key takeaway further
How Leaders Can Use These Findings
- Address misperceptions by highlighting broad public support
- Improve communication about the personal and community benefits of climate action
- Strengthen the visibility of climate solutions to shift perceived social norms
- Engage supportive constituencies, including conservatives, who are often overlooked
- Use narrative strategies that reflect how culture, identity, and norms shape behavior
Methodology
The Index uses a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. It tracks reported behavior adoption, consideration, social norms, self-efficacy, and policy support for seven climate-relevant behaviors. The 2025 edition maintains consistency with past surveys to ensure year-over-year comparability.
In August 2025, Rare surveyed American adults online, quota-matched (age group, gender, and ethnicity) to be representative of the populations of the United States (n = 1,828), the greater Boston area (n = 1,073), and the greater Denver area (n = 1,075).
Acknowledgment
This research was made possible through the generous support of the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.
Download the full 2025 Climate Culture Index
The 2025 Climate Culture Index finds that Americans are more aligned, more supportive, and more willing to engage on climate solutions than public debate often suggests. While support varies by policy, the data consistently challenges the idea that climate action is deeply polarizing or politically immovable.
- Support levels across the policies remained largely stable over time, with many achieving broad bipartisan backing.
- Americans significantly underestimate public support, often by about 30 percentage points. People believe far fewer Americans support climate policies than actually do.
- Willingness to contact representatives rose 3 to 5 points across most policies.
- These gains came entirely from supporters, not opponents or skeptics. Republican supporters showed some of the strongest increases in political engagement.
The real barrier to climate action isn’t public opposition — it’s the widespread misperception that there is opposition, which can suppress engagement and slow policy momentum.
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For more information related to the Climate Culture Index research or findings, contact Rare at info@rare.org.