Climate change

The BBC World News and Synovate survey has revealed a shift in attitudes to climate change. Significantly, India is among seven countries that show the largest increases in levels of concern, with 72 per cent population concerned about climate change as compared to just 59 per cent last year.
Surprisingly, in the United States of America, the highest increase in the population concerned for climate change was recorded. According to the findings of the survey conducted in 2007, only 57 per cent population was concerned about climate change while in 2008, it has increased to 80 per cent.
The key findings of the second global opinion survey carried out by the international market research company in conjunction with the international news channel were announced recently. The survey, which was carried out across 22 markets on six continents, looks at global attitudes towards climate change. Areas covered include levels of concern, what people are doing about climate change and who they believe is responsible.
The results show that respondents’ attitudes to climate change have shifted since the same survey was conducted last year. This is especially apparent in the United States of America where levels of concern have dramatically increased from 57 per cent in 2007 to 80 per cent this year.
The countries that show the largest increases in levels of concern from last year are India and France with a rise of 11 per cent in the population concerned about climate change, Denmark with a rise of 17 per cent, France having 13 per cent increase in the population concerned about climate change, Poland and United Kingdom, where the percentage of people concerned about climate change has increased by 11 percent over last one year, whereas Russia has shown 14 per cent increase in the population concerned about climate change.
Jeremy Nye, Head of Audience Insight at BBC World News says, “These results reflect what our audiences have been telling us with regard to their levels of concern about global warming. In nearly all markets, citizens believe it is up to ordinary people to change their behaviour.” Steve Garton, Executive Director, Media at Synovate says, “We first conducted this survey in 2007 and saw high levels of concern about climate change across the globe. After a year, it seems that extra focus has had an impact.”
There has been a significant shift in concern over climate change, translating through to many facets of consumer behaviour. Compared to 68 per cent in 2007, this year 72 per cent of respondents were concerned about climate change. While the overall increase in concern was not huge, individual countries show significant changes. Interestingly, the majority of respondents in the USA still nominated their own country as the most responsible for climate change. An overall belief is that human causes and pollution are the root causes for climate change.