Europeans consider the effects of climate change a more serious problem than the current financial turmoil.

According to a recent Eurobarometer poll, the majority of the citizens in the European Union rate climate change as one of the world’s most serious problems; 20% of the population believe it is today’s most serious problem. Overall it is viewed as the second most serious issue facing the world, after poverty, hunger, and lack of drinking water.

Highly educated citizens are more likely to mention climate change as being a serious issue. An analysis on education reveals that those in managerial roles and students are most likely to mention climate change (57%). The economic situation is more likely to rival climate change as an issue for the self-employed, unemployed, and home-makers.  Within the socio-demographic profile there are also some differences: women and young people are more likely to describe climate change as a serious problem than older citizens (age 55 and above ).

Connie Hedegaard, European Commissioner for Climate Action, would like to bring the EU’s target of reducing greenhouse gas to a more ambitious target of 30% by 2020, instead of the 20% target in the 1990 levels. “ The poll is an encouragement to continue the fight against climate change. The survey shows that the citizens of Europe expect their politicians and business leaders to address the climate challenge now.”

The Eurobameter poll suggests that climate change is now even more concerning  for the European public,  compared to the last special climate survey that was conducted in  2009, just before the summit on climate change in Copenhagen.in Copenhagen. . The amount  of respondents that believe climate change is a very serious problem has increased from 64% in 2009 to 68% this year. On a scale of 1 (least) to 10 (most), the European public ranks  the seriousness of climate change at 7.4 (against 7.1 in 2009).

The survey also shows that people believe there are economic  benefits to tackling climate change, as  eight out of ten (78%) responded that trying to solve the problem now would boost the economy and create jobs. This is a significant  increase compared to the 63% of the respondents that agreed in  2009.

Furthermore, the more than two thirds (68%) of the respondents agreed with the idea of basing taxation on  energy use.

There is a clear link between the awareness of the serious climate change issue and the  sense of personal responsibility. Nevertheless, tackling climate change is viewed as the  responsibility mainly of national governments, the European Union, and business. Only a fifth of citizens (21%) believe that they have a personal responsibility. Recycling household waste, which ranks low on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, is the most common undertaken action, followed by buying fewer disposable items, and buying local and seasonal products.

Ultimately, Europeans are quite optimistic about the future. The poll highlights that there is a widespread expectation that Europe will become a climate friendly, low-carbon economy by 2050 by increasing the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency (such as designing energy efficient cars).

Photo by Cherrylynx