The UK public fears today’s children will pay the price of climate inaction, reveals a new poll by ActionAid UK, as Keir Starmer and other world leaders speak at COP30
71% of Britons believe that climate change will have a big impact on the future of today’s children, according to the findings of a new poll released by international charity ActionAid UK today
Climate change is a worry for 62% of the public, and more than a third (37%) believe the UK government is not doing or spending enough on climate action
Right now, only 10% of Britons are worried about how climate change will affect their own job here in the UK – yet around the world, the climate crisis is already costing women their livelihoods, forcing them to seek climate-resilient alternatives
The UK public fears today’s children will pay the price of climate inaction, with 71% of Britons saying the climate crisis will have a big impact on their futures, according to the findings of a new survey released today by international charity ActionAid UK.
As the Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks at the COP30 leaders’ summit in Brazil, the research finds that climate change is a worry for a majority of the UK public – yet many feel politicians are not moving fast enough on the crisis.
Overall, 62% of respondents reported feeling worried about climate change and its effects – with one in five (21%) confessing to being ‘very worried’.
However more than one in three (37%) said the UK government was not doing or spending enough to try and reduce carbon emissions, with only 16% believing it was getting the balance about right.
As the UK public worries about what looms ahead for the next generation, the climate crisis is already impacting the lives of millions of children in communities around the world. Fear is a daily reality for many parents, as erratic weather patterns and climate disasters leave them struggling to provide for their children.
Hok, 35, is a mother and farmer in Cambodia’s Pursat province, which is affected by heavy rains and flooding, as well as periods of drought – all exacerbated by the global heating caused by fossil fuel emissions.
These extreme weather patterns have destroyed her rice crops, decimating her income and forcing her to take out expensive loans just to make ends meet for her family.
Her three children are already affected – but Hok fears their generation will inherit an even worse situation.
Hok said: “Changing weather patterns scare me so much and it is not normal. The situation has already been challenging for my generation, so what does the future hold? I am worried about my children's and the next generation’s livelihoods.”
“This year I was not able to grow rice at all...The rice seeds need regular rainwater but there is not enough rainwater so the rice doesn’t grow high enough as it should. And when the water in the river swells and spills over, it floods and the flash floods destroy the crop.”
Severe flooding has a big impact on the education of children in the community, like Hok’s 10-year-old daughter Sienglee, who said: “When there was flooding, I wasn’t able to go to school so I studied at home or studied online via telephone.”
People in the UK may be concerned about how the climate crisis will affect future generations, but when it comes to the immediate consequences, only one in ten working people (10%) reported being worried about the impact it will have on their current job. Meanwhile only 16% of people were concerned about the impact it could have on the job of a family member or friend.
Yet many people around the world are already facing this reality, with extreme weather incidents and rising temperatures robbing them of their livelihoods. In particular, women – who are more likely to depend on natural resources for making an income and are responsible for up to 80% of food production in low-income countries – are disproportionately impacted.
In Senegal, rising sea levels have caused coastal erosion and flooding on islands in the Saloum Delta, which has disrupted marine biodiversity and led to dwindling stocks of the fish many women rely on for their livelihood.
Yet by working collectively in local groups, women are coming up with new ideas and developing new income streams for themselves, including through oyster farming and beekeeping. They are also working to mitigate the impact of climate change in their community by planting new mangrove forests, which help protect against shoreline erosion and storm surges.
Amy Thior, president of a local women’s group on Djirnda island, who has traditionally found work in the production of smoked fish and now also works as an oyster farmer, said: “Because of climate change, fishing is not what it used to be, because the fish are now scarce. We had to find another alternative, so we diversified.”
However, finding additional income streams is not always enough: in some communities, women are forced to abandon their traditional livelihoods altogether and seek out new, climate resilient work.
In Mozambique, women displaced by climate disasters are accessing vocational training to become electricians, plumbers and construction workers.
Not only is this supporting them to provide for their families, it is also inspiring a change in attitudes around traditional gender roles.
Bincha, from Nampula in northern Mozambique, is one of many women who have learned new skills beyond the agricultural sector at the Alberto Cassimo Institute of Vocational Training and Labor Studies (IFPELAC), ActionAid’s partner organisation.
The 20-year-old now works as an electrician in her neighbourhood where many homes, including her own, have been damaged by cyclones.
She plans to put some of her earnings towards building her family’s new home and use her new skills, too. “We are wating for the rains to stop to build a new home. I can buy the materials and install the electricity,” she said.
Bincha said people were often surprised to see a young woman in her profession, but that the feedback she had received – especially from her peers – was highly positive.
She said: “Often people don’t get it. They say, ‘Wow a woman going up’, or ‘Look, a woman electrician!’ But people praise me a lot. It gives me strength and motivates me. People have approached me and said, ‘I also want to be an electrician like you’. Some young women have said, ‘I want to be like that sis.’”
She believes learning new skills can help young women who have experienced the trauma of displacement, saying: “Training can help girls who have been displaced in many ways. But they have to leave fear behind. Even if they have shelter and can access training, they can still feel threatened as they have been threatened before, so to them everything feels like a threat. They have to try to be strong and give it their all.”
Zahra Hdidou, Senior Climate and Resilience Advisor at ActionAid UK, said: “We owe it to the next generation to leave a safe, healthy and liveable planet for them to thrive on. But our surveys shows that a majority of people in the UK are concerned that today’s children could have their futures blighted by the impacts of the climate crisis. Many people feel frustrated that the government is not going further on climate action. Unless we want the next generation to be worse off, our politicians must stop dragging their feet and do more to cut carbon emissions.
“Already, millions of children around the world are paying the price for a climate crisis they did nothing to create, and more and more families are seeing their livelihoods upended. As the fourth largest historic contributor to global emissions, the UK has a responsibility to scale up funding to support vulnerable countries and communities which are experiencing its direct consequences. At COP30 this year, the UK must step up and commit to more grant-based climate finance, and it must invest in and promote women-led solutions to this crisis.”
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For more photos, stories and quotes, or to arrange an interview with a spokesperson, contact the press office at uk.media@actionaid.org or on 07753 973 486.
Notes to editor
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,049 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 14th - 15th October 2025. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+)
About ActionAid
https://www.actionaid.org.uk/
ActionAid is an international charity that works with women and girls living in poverty. Our dedicated local staff are changing the world with women and girls. We are ending violence and fighting poverty so that all women, everywhere, can create the future they want.