Poll: Nine in ten Czechs say climate change is a serious problem

Climate change in Czechia is no longer a matter of belief — nine out of ten Czechs acknowledge it as a real problem, while only seven percent deny it. This is according to a poll by NMS, presented by political analyst Tereza Fridrichová. She notes that the debate has now shifted to a different question: how urgent the problem is and who should be responsible for tackling it.

Voters split along party lines

The largest share of climate "deniers" is found among supporters of the ruling SPD party: 14% of them don't believe the problem exists at all, and another 29% consider it minor or exaggerated. Even so, nearly half of Okamura's movement supporters (48%) acknowledge the problem, with 14% of them calling it very serious.

A similar pattern emerges among supporters of the Motoristé sobě party, whose chairman, Petr Macinka, declared while temporarily heading the Ministry of the Environment that "the climate crisis in Czechia is over." Among this party's voters, 13% see no problem with global warming at all, and 26% think it's overblown. Yet even here, a majority — 55% — recognises the issue as real. Among supporters of ANO, the largest ruling movement, 67% see the problem as serious, a fifth consider it exaggerated, and six percent deny it outright.

Opposition voters more concerned

At the opposite end of the spectrum are opposition supporters. According to the poll, STAN voters feel the issue most acutely — 93% see climate change as a genuine threat. Meanwhile, Pirate Party voters consider it the most urgent: 73% demand immediate action.

"This is exactly where the political camps diverge the most. Among opposition voters, six in ten see it as an urgent problem, compared with three in ten among ruling-coalition voters. The debate isn't about whether the climate is changing, but whether the government should act now or later," Fridrichová explained.

Differences also appear between genders: women tend to view the problem as more serious than men do (76% versus 68%). The age group least worried about global warming is 55 to 64 year-olds — 30% of them see no problem or consider it minor. The youngest generation, aged 18 to 24, expresses the greatest concern.

Who's to blame for the warming

More than two-fifths of Czechs believe humans are responsible for global warming, while nearly a third think the blame is shared between human activity and natural factors. Fewer than a fifth of the population believes people aren't responsible for climate change, and three percent deny it exists altogether.

Here too, SPD and Motoristé voters stand out — a third of supporters from each party lean towards the view that climate change is caused by natural factors.

The poll also revealed that Czechs are poorly informed about the measures and investments the government is directing towards climate protection. Only 22% of respondents consider the government's actions sufficient, while 33% believe it isn't doing enough.

"When Czechs are asked whether the government is doing enough, half of them have no answer: a quarter take a neutral stance, and a fifth simply don't know. Seven in ten Czechs take climate change seriously, but they can't assess the state's efforts to curb it — so this concern doesn't translate into any real political pressure," Fridrichová concluded.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz