‘Big global consenus’ for governments to take climate change action
There is an “overwhelming consensus” for more government-led action to protect the environment, according to an international survey.
Participants in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Poland, the UK and the US were surveyed by polling agency Yougov, working with Cambridge University researchers.
More than 14,000 adults were surveyed, with around 2,000 from each country.
Nine out of ten people in all countries – except the US, where it is three out of four – said they wanted governments to “do more” to protect the environment.
This included a majority of the Trump voters polled (55 per cent) as well as 95 per cent of Biden voters in the US.
In the UK, it included 87 per cent of Conservative voters to 97 per cent Labour, and 96 per cent of Remain voters to 86 per cent of Leave voters.
Researchers asked participants which policies they want to see backed by governments at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), scheduled to be held in Glasgow in November.
In order of popularity, people wanted: more conservation, more tree-planting, more investment in clean technology and energy.
The polling took place in December, with participants randomly assigned to read either one of four “treatment” texts about climate change – drafted to reflect current UN messaging, public health, social norms and patriotism – or a neutral text used to test “baseline” support.
The participants were then asked if they agreed or disagreed with the statement that “all national governments should do more to protect the environment” .
Baseline figures showed high levels of support for government-led action. Exposure to one of the climate change texts led to a small but significant rise of about one or two percentage points on average.
The figures ranged in the UK from 89-93 per cent; as against 96-98 per cent in Brazil, 91-95 per cent in China, 92-97 per cent in India, 99-100 per cent in Indonesia, 91-94 per cent in Poland and 76-79 per cent in the US.
Dr Lee de-wit, a political psychologist at Cambridge University, said that the clearest evidence that a message had an impact was in China, “where pollution is a daily reality for many” . Support for more action rose from 91 per cent to 95 per cent among those that read about public health benefits of tackling climate change – a text that focused on air pollution.
He said: “We can see an overwhelming consensus emerging for greater governmentled action to protect the environment in major nations. As we approach COP26, politicians the world over should take confidence from these findings. Voters across party lines want to see more government action..”
Participants were asked if they thought that businesses should be made “to pay for the damage they do when their activities contribute to climate change”. In every country except China, baseline figures showed this to be a more popular policy than giving businesses a “fair timetable to stop activities that contribute to climate change.”