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<tr><td><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><font color="#333333" size="2"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/07/europeans-climate-change-poll" target="_blank"><b>Europeans Fear Climate Change More Than Financial
Turmoil, Poll Shows</b></a><br></font></font></td></tr><tr><td><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><font color="#333333" size="2">FIONA HARVEY - The Guardian (U.K.)</font></font></td></tr><tr><td><br></td>
</tr><tr><td><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><font color="#333333" size="2"><i>About half of all Americans don't even believe climate
change exists; and Europeans fear it more than financial upheaval --
even in the midst of what they are presently experiencing. This is the
power of the American corporatist disinformation machine.</i></font></font></td></tr><tr><td><br></td></tr>
<tr><td><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><font color="#333333" size="2">Europeans believe that dangers of climate
change represent a more serious problem than the current financial
turmoil, according to a new poll.<br>
<br>
The Eurobarometer poll (pdf) suggests that the majority of the public in
the European Union consider global warming to be one of the world's
most serious problems, with one-fifth saying it is the single most
serious problem. Overall, respondents said climate change was the second
most serious issue facing the world, after poverty.<br>
<br>
Connie Hedegaard, European climate commissioner, said: "This is
encouraging news. The survey shows that the citizens of Europe can see
that economic challenges are not the only ones we face. A clear majority
of Europeans expect their politicians and business leaders to address
the serious climate challenge now."<br>
<br>
She said it was striking that the public were even more concerned about
climate change than in the runup to the landmark Copenhagen summit on
climate change in late 2009.<br>
<br>
The number of people rating climate change as a very serious problem has
risen slightly, from 64% when the poll was last conducted in 2009, to
68% this year. When asked to rank the seriousness of the problem, people
put it at 7.4 out of 10, compared with a score of 7.1 out of 10 two
years ago.<br>
<br>
People also said there were economic benefits to tackling climate
change, with eight out of 10 people saying that dealing with the problem
would provide an economic boost and create jobs. Two years ago the
number was just under two-thirds.<br>
<br>
There was also wide support for moving taxation to penalise greenhouse
gas emissions and encourage energy efficiency, with an average of 68% of
people across the EU in favour of such a move.<br>
<br>
However, there was less enthusiasm for people taking personal
responsibility for tackling climate change. Only one in five said they
took personal responsibility, with more people saying it was the
responsibility of national governments, EU authorities and businesses.<br>
<br>
Despite this, most respondents said they had taken action to combat
climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the previous six
months. But for the greatest number that action was recycling household
waste, which ranks fairly low on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.<br>
<br>
The results of the Eurobarometer poll were hailed by the European
commission as evidence that the public across member states maintain
support for measures to tackle climate change.<br>
<br>
The commission is currently engaged in an argument over whether to
toughen the EU's target of cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 20% by
2020, compared with 1990 levels, to a more stretching target of cutting
emissions by 30% by the same date.<br>
<br>
Hedegaard wants to toughen the target but she is opposed by several
other commissioners, including the energy commissioner, G�nther
Oettinger.<br>
<br>
Hedegaard said on Friday: "The fact that more than three out of four
Europeans see improving energy efficiency as a way to create jobs is a
strong signal to Europe's decision makers. I see this poll very much as
an encouragement for us in the commission to continue fighting for
ambitious and concrete climate action in Europe."<br>
<br>
R�mi Gruet, regulatory adviser to the European Wind Energy Association,
said: "Science and public opinion are pointing in the same direction:
more action on climate change. The survey is a wake-up call to
decision-makers who need to embrace the economic and competitive
benefits of progress on energy efficiency and renewables. It would be a
historic mistake to listen only to those who have vested interests in
climate-damaging fossil technologies."<br>
<br>
The poll was conducted in June and questioned 27,000 people aged 15 and
above in 27 countries.</font></font></td></tr></tbody></table><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>P2P Foundation: <a href="http://p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://p2pfoundation.net</a>� - <a href="http://blog.p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://blog.p2pfoundation.net</a> <br>
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