Polling climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean

Peruvian parade.

A parade in Cusco, Peru. Photo by Ben Ostrower on Unsplash.

A new poll of thirteen nations in Latin America and the Caribbean from the European Investment Bank suggests that "the region has a relatively low percentage of climate change deniers, averaging at 5% per country. However, the levels vary, with Argentina recording the highest rate at 9%, while in Costa Rica it is less than 2%."

Respondents were asked "Which of the following best describes your views on climate change?" and presented with three options: "Human activities, like burning oil, gas and coal, are causing climate change"; "Climate change is a natural process caused by things like changes in the sun's energy or volcanic activity"; and "I don't believe that climate change is happening." The results are presented in the table below.

The poll was conducted online in Spanish or Portuguese (for Brazil) from May 5 to June 1, 2023, with respondents randomly selected from nationally representative panels of the population aged 15 and over in each country; the sample size was about 500 for the five smaller countries and about 1000 for the rest and the margin of error varies accordingly.

  Human activities, like burning oil, gas and coal, are causing climate change. Climate change is a natural process caused by things like changes in the sun's energy or volcanic activity. I don't believe that climate change is happening.
Argentina 73% 18% 9%
Brazil 72% 21% 7%
Chile 81% 16% 3%
Colombia 80% 18% 2%
Costa Rica 83% 21% 2%
Dominican Republic 70% 27% 3%
Ecuador 79% 19% 2%
El Salvador 80% 18% 2%
Mexico 83% 15% 2%
Panama 79% 19% 2%
Paraguay 78% 18% 4%
Peru 77% 20% 3%
Uruguay 80% 14% 6%
Glenn Branch
Short Bio

Glenn Branch is Deputy Director of NCSE.

branch@ncse.ngo