Ian Mannix
Cosmos newsroom
A new study has shown that community trust in Australian and New Zealand scientists is the highest in the developed world, and the authors say – surprisingly – it might be because local politics doesn’t get in the way.
Not everyone agrees.
The survey results were posted yesterday. The study of 70,000 respondents compares public trust in climate scientists and scientists in general across 68 countries.
It reveals that on average, participants reported moderately high levels of trust in climate scientists, with trust levels being slightly lower than in scientists in general.
“Overall, this trust gap was larger among participants who identified as politically conservative or right-leaning, but there was considerable variation across countries,” the report concludes.
Lead author Omid Ghasemi from the UNSW Institute for Climate Risk and Response in Sydney told Cosmos Australia ranks fifth globally in average trust in scientists and eighth in trust in climate scientists.
“Although trust in [Australian] climate scientists is slightly lower than trust in scientists overall, it is still moderately high, which is encouraging news.
“New Zealand also stands out, with consistently high levels of trust in both groups. “Importantly, the size of the gap in these two countries is smaller than in many other countries.
“One possible explanation is that, despite significant political polarisation in Australia – something shown in previous studies – political orientation was not as strongly associated with trust in scientists or climate scientists as it is in countries like the United States, Canada, and many parts of Europe.
“This suggests that scientific trust in Australia may be less politicised, allowing trust levels to remain relatively high across the political spectrum.
“This could reflect Australia’s strong tradition of scientific institutions, along with the growing public concern about climate change, particularly following recent high-impact events like bushfires and floods.
“The prominent role that scientists play in public discourse and climate policy debates in Australia may also help,” Ghasemi says.
The data comes from the international Trust in Science and Science-Related Populism study and was collected between November 2022 and August 2023, and the full dataset was made public in January 2025.
The main paper was published in Nature Human Behaviour in January 2025 with a follow up analysis focusing specifically on trust in climate scientists compared to scientists in general, published yesterday in Environmental Research Letters.
Interestingly there were six countries where trust in climate scientists is higher than other scientists in general.
“We actually found that in six countries, climate scientists were trusted significantly more than scientists in general: China, Taiwan, South Korea, Egypt, Israel, and Germany,” says Ghasemi.
“It’s challenging to pinpoint precise explanations for cross-country variation without more contextual data, but we do offer some possible insights.
“Generally, trust in climate scientists tends to be higher in countries where there is strong public support for climate policies and climate belief, for example China and Germany; high exposure or vulnerability to extreme weather events, for example Australia, Egypt, and parts of South Asia; and significant investment in renewable energy and climate adaptation – for example Germany, Egypt, China.
“In such contexts people may view climate scientists as key contributors to national progress and resilience, especially in the face of climate-related risks. So even in countries like Bangladesh and the Philippines, where the difference wasn’t statistically significant, the perceived relevance of climate scientists might still explain the higher trust ratings.
There were also distinct and surprising demographic differences.
“Yes,” says Ghasemi, “we looked at a range of demographics. Older individuals tended to report lower trust in climate scientists. On the other hand living in urban areas was associated with higher trust in climate scientists.
“Religiosity was also positively associated with higher trust in climate scientists. However gender didn’t show a clear link with trust in climate scientists.
“Education was not related to the trust level. Moreover, those who had a more positive attitude toward science and scientific methods had a higher trust in climate scientists.
The personal experience might be different
David Karoly, a climate scientist for more than 3 decades, has been heavily involved in public communication on climate change science since 1995.
“I have encountered quite a few people who don’t trust climate scientists and who prefer to listen to commentators who say that climate change science is a hoax and untrue,” Karoly told Cosmos.
“In 2012 I appeared in a live 30 min discussion with Alan Jones on his radio program, when he controlled the mute button. I survived and gained a reputation as being able to carefully respond to climate change deniers.”
It’s not surprising that Karoly disagrees with some of the findings that scientific trust in Australia may be less politicised.
“My experience is that trust in climate change science in Australia has been influenced by the right-wing media and opinion leaders on Sky after Dark and the News Limited newspapers, as well as former politicians (Tony Abbot, Scott Morrison,) who continue to push climate change denial arguments, often borrowed from the US or from fossil-fuel industry lobbyists.
“My usual response is to ask them about the places and people that they love, and then talk about how climate change is already affecting those places and those people across Australia.”
The Climate Council has polling showing 83% of Australians reported being directly affected by some kind of climate-fuelled disaster since 2019.
Biodiversity Council Co-Chief Councillor Professor Hugh Possingham from The University of Queensland, is one of Australia’s most distinguished and recognised scientists and was just elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society, the United Kingdom’s national academy of sciences, for his major contributions in mathematical and theoretical ecology and his work in applying ecological theory to formulate and solve some of the biggest problems in nature conservation.
He points out the findings of the global study align with Australian research conducted for the Biodiversity Council in November 2024, which found that in Australia, researchers and scientists are the most trusted messengers for accurate information about the natural environment.
“3 times more people trust scientists for their information about the environment than trust the federal government,” Possingham says.
“One strength of the Australian research system is that – in general – the university sector enables our scientists to make statements publicly in their area of expertise without fear of retribution.
“We are also lucky in having probably, per capita, the best climate and environmental scientists in the world. Ten per cent of global top scientists in ecology, environment and climate are in Australia, which is remarkable.”
Previous reports: Trust in science remains high
