Concern High, Optimism Low On Climate Change
While concern about climate change is high, confidence in the world’s ability to address it is low, according to a new survey sponsored by HSBC.
The HSBC Climate Confidence Index, developed in conjunction with brand strategy consulting firm Lippincott, is based on a sample of 9,000 people across nine economies in four continents.
Key findings of the first survey are:
- Concern about climate change is high especially in developing economies and so is people’s individual commitment to address it.
- Confidence in what is being done today is generally low, with China and Hong Kong being exceptions. Low optimism reflects this lack of confidence.
Most people do not believe we will stop climate change.
- Attitudes differ far more between economies than they do between different ages, incomes or gender within each.
- Climate change is having a significant impact on public opinion in the developing countries surveyed. Around 60% of respondents registered a high level of concern in China, India, Mexico and Brazil, compared with only 22% in the UK and 26% in Germany
- People’s assessment of their commitment to tackling climate is higher in developing economies. Around 47% of people indicated high levels of personal commitment to combating climate change in India and Brazil, compared with only 19% in the UK.
The full report and individual country surveys are available free of charge here.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.