Consumers expect to feel heat of rising energy prices

ALMOST 90% OF INDIAN RESPONDENTS WANT THEIR COUNTRY TO SHIFT AWAY FROM FOSSIL FUELS IN THE NEXT 5 YEARS

A majority of consumers worldwide expect their overall spending power to be significantly impacted by rising energy prices, while India tops the list where climate change policies have been cited as the main cause of the recent price rises, a global survey showed on Wednesday.

The World Economic Forum-Ipsos survey also showed that an average of eight in ten want their country to shift away from fossil fuels in the next five years, while the ratio was above-average at almost 90 per cent in the case of Indian respondents.

The 30-country survey was conducted between February 18 and March 4 this year among 22,534 adults.

"A majority of consumers worldwide expect their overall spending power to be significantly impacted by further energy price increases, yet only 13 per cent of those surveyed globally blamed climate policies for rising prices, while 84 per cent of respondents stressed the importance of their own country's shift to sustainable energy sources," the WEF said.

Survey respondents were asked to consider the energy they use for daily expenses -- such as transportation, heating or cooling homes, cooking, powering appliances, etc -- and assess how much energy price increases would affect their overall spending power.

On average, more than half of consumers (55 per cent) across the 30 countries surveyed expect their overall spending power to be significantly impacted by energy price increases.

However, expectations varied widely across countries. More than two-thirds of respondents in South Africa (77 per cent), Japan (69 per cent), and Turkey (69 per cent) said that price rises would affect them "a great deal or fair amount", as opposed to just over one-third in Switzerland (37 per cent) and the Netherlands (37 per cent).