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.
The arithmetic is straightforward and uncomfortable. By the end of 2025, Taiwan had committed itself to a 50-30-20 electricity mix — half natural gas, 30 per cent coal, 20 per cent renewables. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’s (MOEA) own monthly energy reports tell a different story. Natural gas reached 47.8 per cent of generation last year. Coal stood at 35.4 per cent, comfortably above its target ceiling. Renewables came in at 13.1 per cent, well short of the 20 per cent Taipei had pledged a decade earlier. Installed renewable capacity reached roughly half of the 12 gigawatts (GW) the government
There are shadowy cabals plotting to sell out Taiwan to be annexed by China, by invasion if necessary. Fortunately, they are buffoons. In 2019, former Bamboo Union gangster and founder of the China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP), Chang An-le (張安樂, colorfully known as “White Wolf”), led a protest at the Legislative Yuan against comments made by then-premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) that in the event of an attack by China, he would never surrender, but would protect the nation by fighting to the end, even if he only had a broom. Chang had party members bring a wooden casket that they
Taiwan’s drone exports are taking off, fuelled by the war in Ukraine, as Taiwanese companies seek a stake in the fast-growing global market for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Low-cost drones used for reconnaissance and strikes are in high demand as governments around the world boost defense spending in the face of intensifying conflicts. A relative new player in the increasingly competitive industry, Taiwan’s pitch is to be an “Asian hub” for the production of UAVs and components free of Chinese materials, or “non-red.” That means its UAVs can be up to three times more expensive than their Chinese competitors, like the world’s biggest
June 1 to June 7 "If all Taiwanese were as afraid of dying as you, then what would happen?” Physician Shih Chiang-nan (施江南) reportedly said this to his wife Chen Chiao-tung (陳焦桐) after she urged him to stop intervening on behalf of Taiwanese soldiers stranded overseas after serving in the Japanese Army during World War II. Shih had clashed with high-ranking officials over the issue, engaged in several heated arguments with Taiwan governor-general Chen Yi (陳儀) and allegedly shouted at general Ko Yuan-fen (柯遠芬), chief of staff of the Taiwan Garrison Command, over
RSS