Story at a glance
- 64 percent of people surveyed from 50 countries find climate change to be an emergency.
- This was the largest study of its kind.
The widest-ranging survey measuring the global public’s interest in climate issues was released Tuesday, and revealed that a majority — 64 percent — said that climate change is considered an emergency.
Conducted by Oxford University and the United Nations, the international survey, titled the Peoples’ Climate Vote, surveyed 1.2 million respondents from 50 countries, representing over half of the world’s population.
“The Peoples’ Climate Vote found that nearly two-thirds (64%) of people in 50 countries believe that climate change is a global emergency — presenting a clear and convincing mandate for decision-makers to increase their ambition levels in commitments under the Paris Agreement,” the authors wrote.
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The United Kingdom, Italy, Japan and France were the top four countries most concerned with climate change policies — all higher income countries.
The results indicate that when broken down by the climate policies and initiatives that are most important to respondents, 54 percent found that the conservation of lands and forests was the most important potential initiative.
Another 53 percent found alternative energy sources, including solar, wind and other renewables as pressing, climate-friendly farming techniques saw 52 percent favorability, and investing in more sustainable infrastructure saw a 50 percent popularity rate.
Other popular climate agendas include making larger, wealthier countries that produce a large majority of carbon emissions, such as the U.S., be taxed for the pollution they contribute.
One trend that emerged from the poll was that younger respondents, specifically under the age of 18, were more likely to see climate change as a global emergency that demands urgent actions as opposed to other age groups.
Regardless of the income of the country, however, a majority all replied that in response to climate change, leadership needs to act quickly and “do everything necessary, urgently” to halt any future environmental damage.
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