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The 2023 report, Open Society Barometer: Can Democracy Deliver?, released on September 12, surveyed the attitudes of more than 36,000 people in 30 countries around the world on a range of issues, including their views on international development and climate issues. Here is a selection of the findings related to debt, and climate and development finance:
69 percent say economic equality between countries is a bigger challenge now than it was last year.
At least half of respondents agreed in 28 of the 30 countries surveyed, with agreement highest among countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. Agreement was strongest in Ethiopia and Kenya (both 84 percent), and Senegal and Turkey (both 82 percent).
61 percent think lower-income countries should have more of a say in global decision-making.
Support was highest in Bangladesh and Pakistan (both 84 percent), Senegal (82 percent), Colombia and Egypt (81 percent), Ethiopia (78 percent), and Brazil (77 percent). Support was significantly lower in the United States and United Kingdom (both 49 percent), Germany (42 percent), and Japan (37 percent).
84 percent say lenders should help indebted countries.
Significant majorities in high-income countries agreed: 84 percent in Italy, 78 percent in Germany, 76 percent in the United Kingdom, 73 percent in the United States, and 63 percent in Japan.
79 percent say high-income countries should take the lead in cutting GHG emissions.
There was strong support for this proposition even in the high-income countries surveyed, led by Italy (81 percent), followed by France (77 percent), the United Kingdom (72 percent) and the United States (65 percent). Germany was the least supportive of all the countries surveyed, with 59 percent agreeing.
68 percent feel that high-income countries should give more money to the World Bank.
Among the high-income countries polled, the strongest support was in Italy (58 percent), followed by the United States and the United Kingdom (both 48 percent); then France and Japan (both 46 percent). Germany saw the lowest level of support (38 percent). The proposal was most popular in Bangladesh (89 percent), then Ghana and Egypt (both 86 percent).
71 percent think high-income should take the lead in compensating low-income countries for economic damage caused by climate change.
More than half of those polled agreed in Italy (69 percent), France (58 percent), the United States (54 percent), Japan (53 percent), and the United Kingdom (52 percent). Among high-income countries, respondents in Germany again showed the lowest level of support for the proposition (47 percent). Support was highest for the idea in Egypt (90 percent), Ethiopia (89 percent), and Bangladesh (86 percent).
75 percent believe that high-income countries should increase their overseas aid.
Again, among high-income countries, those polled in Italy were most supportive (72 percent), and those in Germany least so (44 percent). But more than half the respondents supported the proposal in Japan (59 percent), in the United States (58 percent), and in France and the United Kingdom (both 52 percent).
The Open Society Barometer surveyed the following 30 countries: Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and the United States.
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