Rockfeller Foundation survey among G20 citizens says climate change remains key concern for Indian respondents

Tackling global climate change, preventing wars and conflicts and fair global economy and trade and jobs are the top three priorities of the Indian respondents who participated in a survey conducted by The Rockefeller Foundation across all G20 countries.

The results of the survey, released ahead of the 2025 G20 Summit taking place this weekend in Johannesburg, South Africa, showed 63% of survey respondents across all G20 countries (excluding Russia) saying that at least one humanitarian or international development-focused issue is a top priority for them personally. Additionally, 41% selected preventing wars and conflicts as one of their top three priorities.

“These findings make clear that people want to see their governments work together to solve problems and protect the vulnerable,” said Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation. “At a moment of great challenge and great possibility, we have an opportunity to reimagine how nations cooperate and to build a stronger shared future together.”

In fact, 60% of the adults polled across G20 members (except Russia) agree that their country should cooperate on global challenges even if it means compromising on some national interests. Around half of respondents decisively said that they believe international cooperation is in the personal interest of their families, including more than six in ten in China, India, and Saudi Arabia, and more than half in Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States.

Interestingly, the results showed that international cooperation was important to the respondents, support to it depended on whether people see it serving national interests or not.

“To sustain support, leaders must show that compromise abroad brings concrete gains at home—jobs, stability, health, and security. Global efforts also need to demonstrate real impact on the problems they target. Without visible results, today’s support could quickly erode”, the report said.

The survey conducted in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, UK, and U.S saw 19,192 adults expressing their opinion. The surveys were carried out from October 31 to November 7, 2025, and while the African Union, European Union, and Russia are part of G20, they were not covered as individual entities in this survey.