Two thirds of people worldwide regard climate change as a 'global emergency'
The majority of British people think climate change is a 'global emergency' and want to see urgent action taken to combat the threat, according to a global survey. UN Development Programme (UNDP) and University of Oxford researchers questioned 1.2 million people worldwide as part of the 'people's climate vote'. More than 30 million people were invited to take part through adverts in popular mobile games such as Angry Birds and Subway Surfer. In the UK and Italy 81 per cent said climate change was a global emergency, considerably higher than the global average of 64 per cent. Conserving forests, using renewables, climate-friendly farming, and investing more money in green business were the most popular options for tackling the crisis. The least popular option, out of those presented as part of the survey, was promoting a plant based diet - supported by 45 per cent of UK respondents. Although the survey took place last autumn as the pandemic continued to rage, there was widespread recognition of the global climate emergency, the team said. The survey showed that overall 64 per cent thought climate change was a global emergency, ranging from 69 per cent of under-18s to 58 per cent of over-60s. The figure climbed to 81 per cent among those in the UK and in Italy, while at least half of respondents in all countries said they thought there was a global emergency. In the UK, where 21,189 people responded, youngsters were more likely to think climate change was a global emergency, with 86 per cent of under-18s saying it was. The figure was over 80 per cent for both the 18-35 and the 36-59 age groups, and although the over-60s were slightly more sceptical, 78 per cent still believed climate change was a global emergency the highest level worldwide for their age group. Women and girls were more likely to see climate change as a global emergency than men - 84 per cent of women and 78 per cent of men, the authors discovered. Out of 18 environmental policy options people could show their support for, the most popular in the UK were using solar, wind and renewable power. They also wanted work aimed at conserving land and forests, and keeping the ocean and waterways healthy each backed by more than four-fifths of people. The least popular option was promoting plant-based diets, which was supported by 43 per cent of those who took part. The peoples' climate vote was conducted from October 7 to December 4 2020 by distributing poll questions through adverts in popular mobile gaming apps. More than 30 million invites to the survey were issued to people in 50 countries when they played games such as Words With Friends, Angry Birds or Dragon City. Results were included from 1.22 million people who answered at least some questions on climate and all questions on gender, age group and education level. The findings were then weighted by polling experts at Oxford University to be as representative as possible for each country. UNDP administrator Achim Steiner said the results clearly show urgent action to tackle climate change has broad support amongst people around the world. Support is there cross nationalities, age, gender and education level - including evidence that 'people want their policymakers to tackle the crisis,' said Steiner. 'From climate-friendly farming to protecting nature and investing in a green recovery from Covid-19, the survey brings the voice of the people to the forefront of the climate debate,' the administrator added. 'It signals ways in which countries can move forward with public support as we work together to tackle this enormous challenge.' Prof Stephen Fisher, from the Department of Sociology at Oxford, said it was the biggest ever survey of public opinion on climate change. Adding that it has shown that 'mobile gaming networks can not only reach a lot of people, they can engage different kinds of people in a diverse group of countries.' 'The people's climate vote has delivered a treasure trove of data on public opinion that we've never seen before,' Fisher added. 'Recognition of the climate emergency is much more widespread than previously thought. We've also found that most people clearly want a strong and wide-raging policy response.'