Survey shows good levels of climate awareness among Southlanders

A good level of awareness and a need to reduce barriers to action are some of the key findings from the Murihiku Southland Our Changing Climate – Community Survey 2025.

The survey looked at how people around the region perceive climate-related change, their level of concern, and what encourages or discourages them to act.

It was conducted online from 14 November to 8 December 2025. A total of 509 participants took part, giving the survey a +/- 5.0% margin of error.

Environment Southland General Manager Community and Engagement Sam Rossiter-Stead said broadly speaking the findings reflected results in a similar survey in 2023, indicating that more than 60% of people in the region were concerned about climate issues.

In the 2025 survey, 60% of respondents said they were concerned about current climate impacts while 64% were concerned about future impacts. Almost two-thirds (63%) said they were prepared to change their behaviour to reduce their impact.

“This indicates that many Southlanders are aware of the impacts of a changing climate in Southland and that they are prepared to change habits to help make a difference,” Sam Rossiter-Stead said.

When it came to everyday actions already being taken to reduce impacts, 44% reported growing food, 43% reducing waste, 40% shopping locally and 36% reducing household energy use.

The barriers to taking action included the cost of living (48%), the price of alternatives (41%), and limited number of transport options (31%), while factors that would increase actions included improved infrastructure (eg: cycling paths and public transport 38%) and financial incentives (34%).

When asked what impacts they are most concerned about, the top priorities were disruption to infrastructure (41%), impacts on water quality and availability (30%), insurance availability/costs (28%) and more frequent or severe flooding (28%).

The survey also indicated there was more work needed to get people to engage with climate information, and that community preparedness needed to lift, he said.

“The key findings will be a useful gauge of where people are at around the challenges and opportunities of a changing climate,” he added.

Just over half of respondents (53%) believed Southland councils should be doing more to address climate issues and 55% of respondents are aware that Murihiku Southland has a Regional Climate Change Strategy (adopted 2024) and/or a Regional Framework for Action on Climate (adopted 2025).

Work towards a regional climate action plan is a focus for the Regional Climate Chance Working Group (RCCWG) this year.

The RCCWG consists of Environment Southland, Southland District Council, Gore District Council, Invercargill City Council and Te Ao Mārama.

The full survey report can be found here.