New Poll: Ahead of COP31, Public in US, UK, and France Put Responsibility for Energy Transition on Governments

London, UK – More people support than oppose transitioning away from fossil fuels to renewable energy in the United States, United Kingdom, and France, according to new YouGov [1] polling. The poll, conducted in September and October 2026, tested the opinions of a nationally representative sample of the general public across these three major economies.

The most common views among people in the US, France, and UK are that:

• Their countries should transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy,
  • US 53%, France 44%, United Kingdom 59% believe this,
  • Respondents who “Don’t believe this” are around half the number of supporters (28%, 31%, 25%) and the remaining “Don’t know” (19%, 25%, 15%).

• Governments – much more so than individuals or businesses – have the greatest responsibility to ensure the transition to renewables,
  • 48% of US respondents, 50% of French respondents, and 56% of UK respondents listed National governments as among the top 3 most responsible entities, while no other organization tested was picked by more than 30% (Local government, Oil and gas companies, Renewable energy companies, Business energy consumers, Individual energy customers, Don’t know, Not applicable – don’t think we should transition)
• New laws should be passed to phase out fossil fuel production by oil and gas companies.
  • US 45%, France 49%, UK 51% support this,
  • Respondents who “Oppose this” (37%, 24%, 28%) are a smaller minority, and the remaining “Don’t know” (19%, 27%, 21%).

Ahead of the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Antalya, Türkiye (COP31) where countries will negotiate climate commitments, the new poll shows the public in key major economies share a clear demand for their governments to take action. US, French, or UK leaders who stall or resist following through on the international agreements to transition away from fossil fuels and limit global warming are significantly out of step with their electorate.

Note to editors: Download the results. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,672 adults in the UK, 2606 adults in France, and 2543 adults in the US. Fieldwork was undertaken between 22nd September – 5th October 2026. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all adults in the UK, France and US (aged 18+).

[1] YouGov is the most trusted market research provider globally. 3rd party piece of research across over 3,000 market research users globally, Aug 2025 https://yougov.com/about

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