A new study has revealed that nine in 10 Malaysian corporate professionals experience anxiety triggered by climate change news.
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Furthermore, eight out of 10 respondents experience feelings of guilt concerning their personal carbon footprint.
Conducted by sustainability consultancy Karbon Hero and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s Centre for Low Carbon Transport, the study surveyed 400 professionals across various business sectors in Malaysia.
The study revealed a general desire to reduce climate impact at the individual level, with 70 per cent of respondents indicating a willingness to invest more in sustainable products and services.
Participants generally supported lifestyle changes intended to minimise their environmental impact, with popular suggestions including reducing energy consumption, utilising green energy, purchasing local products, and adopting the “3 Rs” of waste management – reduce, recycle, and reuse. However, support for a transition to electric vehicles (EVs) was less than 50 per cent.
Dr Sarah Shahril, founder and chief executive officer of Karbon Hero, said the lower inclination to switch to EVs could be attributed to barriers such as the higher cost of purchase compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, as well as the limited accessibility of EV charging infrastructure.
Survey respondents showed a willingness to make key lifestyle changes, but a pessimistic outlook for the future. 70 per cent of participants identified as male, 27 per cent as female, and 3 per cent did not disclose their gender. Image: Karbon Hero
Despite indicating a personal commitment to addressing climate change, 57 per cent of respondents believed that the Malaysian government was not implementing sufficient policies to address climate change.
Eco-anxiety has become a growing mental health concern, particularly among young people. A 2023 study on eco-anxiety involving 4,000 participants in China, India, Japan and the United States found national differences in participants’ emotional responses. Chinese and Indian participants, who were more immediately affected by heatwaves and lack of buffering against climate impacts, reported stronger anxiety, although surprisingly, older Chinese participants reported being more affected than their younger compatriots.
More recently, professional services firm Deloitte’s 2024 survey on millenials and Gen Zs found environmental sustainability to be among their top priorities even through major upheavals such as Covid-19, historic levels of inflation and geopolitical instability.
Sixty-two per cent of Gen Zs and 59 per cent of millennials in the suvey reported feeling worried or anxious about climate change in the last month – up two points for both groups from last year’s survey.
The majority of participants from both generations report taking increased action in response to feeling of eco-anxiety, such as changing their jobs or industry over climate concerns (46 and 42 per cent for Gen Zs and millenials respectively), pressuring employers to take action on climate change.
