India stands out globally for maintaining stable climate news engagement, high trust in institutions, and strong optimism about technology’s role in solving the climate crisis. Unlike many countries in the Global North, where climate news usage is declining and public confidence is weakening, India’s audiences continue to follow climate stories closely. This resilience is shaped by lived climate vulnerability, national narratives that emphasise fairness between rich and developing nations, and positive perceptions of government action. Indian audiences also express the highest optimism in the world about artificial intelligence as a climate solution and rate media coverage of AI and political leadership more favourably than any other surveyed country. These patterns reflect both India’s demographic profile and unique media environment.
Why does India show unusually high climate news engagement, trust in leadership, and optimism about technology compared to trends in the Global North?
India’s climate information landscape diverges sharply from the patterns seen in countries such as France, Germany, Japan, the UK, and the United States. According to the Climate Change News Audiences Report 2025, India presents a rare combination of stable climate news engagement, high confidence in political leadership, and exceptional optimism about artificial intelligence as a climate tool.
News Engagement Driven by Climate Exposure
While climate news consumption is declining in much of the Global North, India’s usage has remained steady. Public interest is consistently high, influenced by India’s direct exposure to climate impacts. The survey period coincided with major flooding that dominated the national news cycle, increasing visibility and awareness. In a country where climate risk is highly tangible, news remains a primary channel for understanding threats and responses.
Trust in Political Leadership
India is the only country in the research sample where a majority expresses confidence in national leaders’ climate priorities and decisions. Around 61–62 percent believe political leaders are making the right choices and setting a positive international example. This confidence is partially shaped by a long-standing narrative that the climate crisis is historically driven by higher-emitting industrialised nations. The result is a reduced public tendency to scrutinise domestic leadership, combined with pride in India’s growing climate diplomacy and renewable energy ambitions.
Indian audiences also give their media very high ratings for reporting on climate leadership. With net positive assessments above +30 percentage points, respondents believe journalists both explain government action well and hold leaders to account.
Exceptional Optimism About AI
India records the strongest global optimism regarding the role of artificial intelligence in addressing the climate crisis. More than half of respondents believe AI will be beneficial. This reflects broader national enthusiasm for technology-driven growth and a young, digitally fluent population. The media’s coverage of AI is also viewed positively, with audiences satisfied both with how AI risks are investigated and how its climate potential is explained.
What Audiences Still Need
The clearest unmet need for Indian audiences lies in the Feeling category of news roles. Respondents indicate a desire for stories that inspire confidence or emotional connection rather than purely informational reporting. Yet overall satisfaction is high: the gap between what audiences expect from journalists and how they assess media performance is smaller in India than in most surveyed markets.
Understanding the Methodology
These findings reflect the online Indian population, which skews younger, more educated, and more urban than the national average. The survey capped the upper age at fifty-five, unlike Japan (sixty-five) or Western nations (seventy-five). Younger demographics consistently show higher trust in technology and more optimistic outlooks, which helps explain India’s distinctive results.
Together, these factors describe a country where climate news is not fatiguing audiences but reinforcing engagement. India views climate action and climate technology as part of its growth story, not a burden. This optimism differentiates it sharply from the anxieties seen across much of the Global North.
Listen to the full ESG Matters podcast episode here.
ReasonQ Practice (PHISE)
Practical Engine:
- Design climate communication strategies that reflect India’s high baseline trust while addressing information needs beyond urban online audiences.
- Expand newsroom capacity to produce emotionally resonant climate storytelling that reflects real community experiences.
Horizon Mapper:
- Monitor how stable engagement today may evolve as climate impacts intensify and policy expectations rise.
- Consider long-term effects of AI optimism, including shifts in labour, governance, and environmental risk.
Integrity Scale:
- Ensure reporting confronts fairness issues, including climate vulnerability among lower-income or offline populations not captured by the survey.
- Maintain scrutiny of political claims even in a high-trust environment to support accountable climate leadership.
Stakeholder Bridge:
- Engage communities outside major cities to ensure diverse perspectives shape climate narratives.
- Strengthen dialogue between policymakers, technologists, and journalists to build shared understanding of emerging risks.
Evidence Beacon:
- Ground reporting in transparent data on climate impacts, policy outcomes, and AI technologies.
- Clarify uncertainties in projections and avoid overstating technological readiness.
Further Questions
- How is India’s climate vulnerability shaping national media and public perception?
- What does India’s optimism about AI mean for global climate innovation?
- How does trust in political leadership influence climate action in rapidly developing economies?
- Why is climate news engagement falling in the Global North but holding steady in the Global South?
ReasonQ 