Citizens are alarmed by the climate crisis, but most believe they are already doing more to preserve the planet than anyone else, including their government, and few are willing to make significant lifestyle changes, an international survey has found.
“The widespread awareness of the importance of the climate crisis illustrated in this study has yet to be coupled with a proportionate willingness to act,” the survey of 10 countries including the US, UK, France and Germany, observed.
Emmanuel Riviere, director of international polling at Kantar Public, said the survey, carried out in late September and published to coincide with the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow, contained “a double lesson for governments.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
They have, first, “to measure up to people’s expectations,” Riviere said. “But they also have to persuade people not of the reality of the climate crisis — that’s done — but of what the solutions are, and of how we can fairly share responsibility for them.”
The survey found that 62 percent of people surveyed saw the climate crisis as the main environmental challenge the world was now facing, ahead of air pollution (39 percent), the impact of waste (38 percent) and new diseases (36 percent).
But when asked to rate their individual action against others’ such as governments, business and the media, people generally saw themselves as much more committed to the environment than others in their local community, or any institution.
Photo: AP
About 36 percent rated themselves “highly committed” to preserving the planet, while only 21 percent felt the same was true of the media and 19 percent of local government. A mere 18 percent felt their local community was equally committed, with national governments (17 percent) and big corporations (13 percent) seen as even less engaged.
Respondents were also lukewarm about doing more themselves, citing a wide range of reasons. Most (76 percent) of those surveyed across the 10 countries said they would accept stricter environmental rules and regulations, but almost half (46 percent) felt that there was no real need for them to change their personal habits.
Only 51 percent said they would definitely take individual climate action, with 14 percent saying they would definitely not and 35 percent torn. People in Poland and Singapore (56 percent) were the most willing to act, and in Germany (44 percent) and the Netherlands (37 percent) the least.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The most common reasons given for not being willing to do more for the planet were “I feel proud of what I am currently doing” (74 percent), “There isn’t agreement among experts on the best solutions” (72 percent) and “I need more resources and equipment from public authorities” (69 percent).
Other reasons for not wanting to do more included “I can’t afford to make those efforts” (60 percent), “I lack information and guidance on what to do” (55 percent), “I don’t think individual efforts can really have an impact” (39 percent), “I believe environmental threats are overestimated” (35 percent) and “I don’t have the headspace to think about it” (33 percent).
Asked which actions to preserve the planet should be prioritized, moreover, people attributed more importance to measures that were already established habits, required less individual effort or for which they bore little direct responsibility.
Photo: Reuters
About 57 percent, for example, said that reducing waste and increasing recycling was “very important.” Other measures seen as priorities were reversing deforestation (54 percent), protecting endangered animal species (52 percent), building energy-efficient buildings (47 percent) and replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy (45 percent).
Respondents viewed measures likely to affect their own lifestyles, however, as significantly less important: reducing people’s energy consumption was seen as a priority by only 32 percent, while favoring public transport over cars (25 percent) and radically changing our agricultural model (24 percent) were similarly unpopular.
Only 23 percent felt that reducing plane travel and charging more for products that did not respect environmental norms were important to preserve the planet, while banning fossil fuel vehicles (22 percent) and reducing meat consumption (18 percent) and international trade (17 percent) were seen as even lower priorities.
“Citizens are undeniably concerned by the state of the planet, but these findings raise doubts regarding their level of commitment to preserving it,” the study said. “Rather than translating into a greater willingness to change their habits, citizens’ concerns are particularly focused on their negative assessment of governments’ efforts.”
Representative samples of more than 1,000 people were questioned in the US, UK, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Singapore and New Zealand.
People gave themselves the highest score for commitment everywhere except Sweden, while only in Singapore and New Zealand were national governments seen as highly engaged. The gulf between citizens’ view of their own efforts (44 percent) and that of their government (16 percent) was highest in the UK.
It’s only half the size of its more famous counterpart in Taipei, but the Botanical Garden of the National Museum of Nature Science (NMNS, 國立自然科學博物館植物園) is surely one of urban Taiwan’s most inviting green spaces. Covering 4.5 hectares immediately northeast of the government-run museum in Taichung’s North District (北區), the garden features more than 700 plant species, many of which are labeled in Chinese but not in English. Since its establishment in 1999, the site’s managers have done their best to replicate a number of native ecosystems, dividing the site into eight areas. The name of the Coral Atoll Zone might
On Monday morning, in quick succession, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) released statements announcing “that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and General Secretary Xi Jinping (習近平) have invited KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) to lead a delegation on a visit to the mainland” as the KMT’s press release worded it. The KMT’s press release added “Chairwoman Cheng expressed her gratitude for the invitation and has gladly accepted it.” Beijing’s official Xinhua news release described Song Tao (宋濤), head of the Taiwan Work Office of the CCP Central Committee, as
Nuclear power is getting a second look in Southeast Asia as countries prepare to meet surging energy demand as they vie for artificial intelligence-focused data centers. Several Southeast Asian nations are reviving mothballed nuclear plans and setting ambitious targets and nearly half of the region could, if they pursue those goals, have nuclear energy in the 2030s. Even countries without current plans have signaled their interest. Southeast Asia has never produced a single watt of nuclear energy, despite long-held atomic ambitions. But that may soon change as pressure mounts to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change, while meeting growing power needs. The
Last week saw Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), former Taipei mayor and founder of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), receive a 17-year sentence for crimes involving political corruption. This was only the opening round: the case is likely to drag on for several more years in appeals. Both the TPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) are claiming that the prosecutors are engaging in a political witch hunt, green terror, fascism and so forth. It is easy to see this as a kind of compensation. After all, otherwise they would have to admit that the rather impressive collection of evidence against Ko actually
RSS