A new poll commissioned by the World Bank of 15 countries found that most people surveyed support action to combat climate change by their governments even if measures would include costs.
Those supporting policy measures said they would support increased fuel efficiency standards for vehicles, forest conservation and providing funding to needy countries struggling to produce enough crops in severe climates.
The poll was conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org and surveyed over 13,000 people in Bangladesh, China, Egypt, France, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Russia, Senegal, Turkey, the United States, and Vietnam.
The poll further found that globally climate change is a large concern, but greater in developing countries and that these countries believe they are already experiencing adverse effects from climate change. In most countries, wealthy and poor, significant numbers are willing to pay to battle climate change.
“It is encouraging indeed to see strong across-the-board support for committing to emissions limits in both developed and developing nations, since behavior change and attitudes will help determine whether we succeed or fail in addressing this global issue,” says Marianne Fay, World Bank Chief Economist for Sustainable Development and Co-Director of the World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change.
The poll follows the World Bank’s recently released World Development Report to determine how the recommendations to invest in and manage climate change is viewed across countries. Most surveyed are willing to pay higher prices for energy and other goods to fight climate change and support “limiting the rate of constructing coal-fired power plants, even if this increases the cost of energy.” In China, which is highly reliant on coal, 67 percent support this measure.
Of those surveyed in Vietnam, 98 percent want to see their government commit to limiting greenhouse gas emissions under a global deal and almost that much, 93 percent, support the same resolution even if a deal is not reached in Copenhagen. In the wealthy country of France, 97 percent support a commitment to limiting emissions as part of a deal, while 87 percent still support a commitment in the absence of a deal.
Read more at the World Bank’s climate change blog.
