Nairobi/Kenya,
27 November 2008 - The environment remains
a top concern for people around the world
despite the financial crisis, according
to a global poll by the HSBC Climate Partnership,
which includes HSBC, The Climate Group,
Earthwatch Institute, Smithsonian Tropical
Research Institute and WWF.
The new poll, released
on 26 November, finds that 43 per cent see
climate change as a bigger problem than
the economy.
The survey confirms
the findings of a UNEP poll released in
October that showed that nearly 90 per cent
of young people across the globe think world
leaders should do "whatever it takes"
to tackle climate change.
As representatives around
the world prepare to gather in Poland next
week for the United Nations Climate Change
Conference, the two surveys are an unequivocal
call from people around the world for unity
in the fight against climate change.
The Climate Partnership
poll interviewed 12,000 people in total:
1,000 people each in Australia, Brazil,
Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong,
India, Malaysia, Mexico, Britain and the
United States.
Three-quarters of those
polled said they want their countries to
reduce their "fair share" of greenhouse
gas emissions, and a further 55 per cent
of people believed their government should
invest in renewable energy.
In the USA, 72 per cent
of people said their country should reduce
emissions by at least as much as other countries.
In China, 62 per cent of people said their
country should reduce emissions by at least
as much as other countries and only 4 per
cent said their country's emissions should
be allowed to increase.
People in emerging markets
also want their governments to be generous
with emission cuts, with only 4 per cent
believing that their country's emissions
should be allowed to increase to enable
their economies to grow. In Mexico and Brazil,
over 80 per cent of people want to cut emissions
by their 'fair share' or more - as high
a level as in developed markets.
Nicholas Stern, the
author of the Stern report and an advisor
to HSBC, said the research "demonstrates
the need for decisive action on climate
change".
"The urgent challenge
is to build a framework for a global deal
so that consensus can be reached in Copenhagen
next year and the discussions in Poznan
are a critical stepping stone to achieving
this," he added.
The HSBC survey strongly
echoes UNEP's own survey of young people's
views on climate change, in which a majority
of 12 to 18 year olds in Brazil, Russia,
South Africa and the United States said
"it is necessary to take major steps
starting very soon" to fight climate
change.
Young people in South
Africa, the United States and Brazil were
particularly critical of world leaders'
efforts to address climate change, with
seven in ten or more across these three
countries saying world leaders are not doing
enough (82 per cent in South Africa; 79
per cent in the United States; and 73 per
cent in Brazil).
UNEP commissioned
the youth survey as part of the launch of
the UNite to Combat Climate Change campaign,
which supports the call for a definitive
agreement on climate change at the Copenhagen
climate talks in December 2009.
