- The public believes individuals have a responsibility to combat climate change
- But few can identify the most effective actions to cut carbon emissions
- A poll of more than 25,000 consumers across 31 counties provide global insight
New research by Ipsos shows that people around the world are worried about the impact of climate change, but reluctant to make the lifestyle changes that would have the most impact on cutting carbon emissions.
In a survey of more than 25,000 consumers across 31 countries, 68% said they were concerned about the impacts of climate change at home and 70% worried about the impact abroad. However, fewer than half said they were likely to eat fewer dairy products (41%), less meat (44%), or change their household heating to a low carbon system (44%), despite these being some of the most effective ways to cut carbon emissions.
In the UK, 74% said that individuals had a responsibility to reduce their contribution to climate change by cutting carbon emissions, but only 28% would change their heating system – the second-lowest in the countries surveyed, behind only Japan – whilst around one in three would eat less dairy (34%) or eat less meat (37%), lower than the global average.
UK consumers are most likely to try to cut their emissions by avoiding products which have a lot of packaging (53%). Avoiding buying new goods (49%), saving water at home (48%) and saving energy at home (47%) are the other most popular options.
Less than half (45%) say they are likely to walk, cycle or use public transport rather than driving a car or motorbike. According to this study* by Diana Ivanova et al published by Environmental Research, living car-free is the number one way to reduce carbon emissions, followed by switching to BEVs (battery electric vehicles) and taking one less flight. But only 36% of UK consumers said they were likely not to fly in the coming year or to replace some flights with train or bus journeys.
Around the world, few can correctly identify actions which would have the most impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. People are most likely to say recycling is the best way to reduce emissions (49%) but Diana Ivanova’s study ranked this number 60 in a list of individual actions which could have the most impact.
Among the top 5 actions chosen by the public globally, only 2 are in the actual top 10 most impactful actions to take:
- Switching to purchasing renewable electricity (30%) – actual rank is no.4
- Less packaging (28%) – actual rank is no.38
- Buying fewer items or more durable items (22%) – actual rank is no. 46
- Shift to public transport (22%) – actual rank is no. 5
- The most impactful action, ‘living car-free’ which ranks no.1 was only selected by 15% of people.
Dr. Pippa Bailey, Head of UK Climate Change & Sustainability Practice, Ipsos said:
“It is evident that there is still a sizeable gap between what people believe to be true and what is reality in terms of the actions that we as citizens can make to reduce our own carbon footprint. So, there is an ongoing role for education and putting more focus on those issues which are going to have a significant positive impact.
Some of the tougher life choices, such as people moving away from personal transportation to the use of public transport, walking or cycling is going to be more challenging, particularly in developed economies. However, there is clear awareness of the need by global citizens to transition to renewables and so there is likely to be limited resistance to changes in this area.”
