Air and water pollution are now of greater concern to global consumers than climate change, according to a new report from Nielsen.
The 2011 Sustainable Efforts & Environmental Concerns report, which surveyed more than 25,000 internet respondents in 51 countries, reveals that 69 per cent of global online consumers are concerned about climate change/global warming (up from 66 per cent in 2009, but down from 72 per cent in 2007).
However, three out of every four global consumers rated air pollution (77 per cent) and water pollution (75 per cent), a six percentage point increase in each case since 2009.
The bi-annual report also reveals that the fastest growing areas of concern since 2009 are pesticides (+16 percentage points), packaging waste (+14 points) and water shortages (+ 13 points). In each case, 73 per cent of consumers said these were areas of concern.
“There are many possible reasons for declines in concern about climate change/global warming,” said Dr Maxwell T Boykoff, senior visiting research associate, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford.
“Focus on immediate worries such as job security, local school quality, crime and economic well-being have all diminished media attention for climate stories in the past two years. In the face of other pressing concerns, a public ‘caring capacity’ for climate change has been tested. Without continued attention paid to global warming/climate change in the media, such concerns may have faded from the collective public conscience.”
The survey reveals that the top environmental concerns among Asia Pacific consumers include water shortages and air pollution, while water pollution was the main concern for Latin Americans, Middle Eastern/Africans, Europeans and North Americans.
Nielsen notes that the United States, China and India are seen by many as instrumental to any potential international climate change agreements due to their large populations and high CO2 emissions.
However, the research found that concern is falling in the US, which recorded one of the steepest declines (14pc) in concern about climate change/global warming from 2007 to 2011. Today, fewer than half of Americans (48 per cent) say they are concerned about climate change. This contrasts sharply with reported concern in Latin America (90 per cent), Middle East/Africa (80 per cent), Asia Pacific (72 per cent), and Europe (68 per cent).
Among the 21 per cent of Americans who are decidedly not concerned, 63 per cent indicated they believe natural variation—and not people—causes climate change/global warming.
“During this period, Nielsen’s Global Online Consumer Confidence Survey found heightened American consumer concern around the economy, rising gas prices, and debt,” said Todd Hale, SVP consumer & shopper insights, Nielsen US. “With financial concerns still on the minds of many Americans, they’re indicating less and less concern about climate change and other environmental issues.”
In China, concern about climate change/global warming is higher than in the US, but has dropped 17 per cent in the last two years from 77 per cent in 2009 to 64 per cent in 2011. Meanwhile, concern in India has gradually risen in the past four years, and with 86 per cent of Indians currently worried, it remains one of the markets most concerned about climate change in the world.
