Climate and energy transition

"Most citizens say they are ready to make personal sacrifices to address climate change", according to a BBC poll in 21 countries in the world.

 

The survey shows that almost 88% of respondents from.France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Russia and Spain agree that individuals will definitely or probably have to make lifestyle changes to reduce the amount of climate-changing gases they produce. In mainly all of these countries in Europe, most people believe the cost of fuels that contribute most to climate change will have to increase.

 

Citizens, politicians and green taxes

 

Another finding of the survey is that "people are willing to pay extra tax if they were convinced that that tax would be used to address climate change through energy efficiency improvements or cleaner fuels." According to Doug Miller, president of the international polling firm GlobeScan*, many politicians are quite hesitant to put any burden, especially a tax burden on their populations but this poll clearly shows that people are much more ready to endure their share of the burden than most politicians grant.

 

The BBC World Service survey

 

Background information

 

A total of 22,182 citizens in 21 countries in the world were interviewed face to face or by telephone between May 29 and July 26, 2007. Polling was conducted for BBC World Service by the international polling firm GlobeScan* and its research partners in each country.

 

The margin of error per country ranges from +/-2.4 to 3.5 percent.