A new 33-country survey released by Ipsos – one of the world’s leading market research companies – marking Earth Day, looks at how attitudes to climate change are transforming. The study says that although Indians have a sense of onus on climate change, they live in their own reality.
For the survey, Ipsos interviewed 24,290 people online in 33 countries between January 26 and February 9, 2024. Earth day is recognised globally on April 22.
Nationally, the study finds that 75 percent or more Indians believe that government, businesses and individuals need to act now to mitigate the risk of climate change.
However, 2 in 3 urban Indians (68%) believe the negative impact of climate change is too far off to worry in the present. The same percentage see no reason to change their behaviour towards tackling climate change.
A list of ways in which households could to change their behaviours to reduce greenhouse emissions.
Limiting climate change
Meanwhile, two-thirds across 33 countries and 76 percent Indians think that developed countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and France should be paying more to provide solutions for problems caused by climate change.
On the other hand, there has been an increase in the number of French and Canadian nationals who feel that they are being asked to sacrifice too much to fight climate change.
On limiting the effects of climate change, at least 77% in India believe that if everyone made small changes in their everyday lives this could have a big impact. Further, 66% urban Indians believe the usage of products that deplete the ozone layer is the biggest contributing factor for climate change. But the actual No.1 cause was industry, electricity and heat production; No.2 was deforestation, agriculture and other land use changes; and No.3 was air pollution caused by cars, trucks, planes, trains and ships etc.
Personal action against climate change
Regarding incentives to take action against climate change, 30 percent urban Indians said seeing the impact of climate driven weather events in other countries around the world would motivate them. For others, the incentives are as follows – the impact of climate driven weather events in India (29%), having easy access to information on the steps to take every day (28%), and a financial incentive, or tax cut to allow me to make more environmentally friendly purchases of goods and services (27%).
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