A climate survey reveals Europeans to be more concerned about climate change

Katowice: Europeans are more concerned about climate change than people in the US and China, a survey has said. Climate change doubters or deniers are more likely to be found in the US, a first-of-its-kind citizens’ climate survey by the European Investment Bank (EIB) said on Tuesday. The survey was in partnership with the global public opinion company YouGov to find out how 25,000 citizens in the European Union, the US and China feel about the climate change.

The EIB presented the findings of the first two parts of its survey on the sidelines of the ongoing UN climate negotiations, known as COP24, which saw world leaders and decision-makers getting to work on mitigating climate change in this Polish city. The survey says a large majority of Europeans well aware of the climate change issue but 20 percent still not feeling concerned despite the recent special report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that finds that warming could reach 1.5 degrees as soon as 2030, with devastating impacts.

A total of 14 percent of Americans are sceptical about the reality of climate change versus seven percent of the Europeans. Citizens with lower income more worried by the negative economic impact of climate actions than high-income ones in Europe, except in Poland. EIB Vice President responsible for climate action and environment Jonathan Taylor said: “The EIB climate survey sends an important signal to delegates at COP24 in Katowice, that citizens are increasingly aware of the challenges posed by climate change.”

Regarding the public’s perception of the impact of climate action on job creation and economic growth, the survey found that EU citizens are more pessimistic than their Chinese and US counterparts. The Europeans express greater concern about the financial impact of climate change. Fifty-five percent of Europeans consider that the financial impact of climate change will affect them personally, as compared to 40 percent of Chinese and 45 percent of US respondents. (IANS)

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