Closely related to this mindset, the most invoked solution for reducing the effects of climate change has been to increase the renewable energy sources ratio, followed at a significant distance by lowering greenhouse emissions produced by cars and “green” investments in the private sector, both of which were named by half of the respondents.
This year’s analysis was developed surrounding the Climate Change Summit event, launched by BRD Groupe Société Générale as part of Lumea9 (New World), a sustainability platform that encompasses all the areas the bank considers to be important in building a better future.
The study is the first on the Climate Change Summit agenda, the most important event throughout Eastern and Central Europe dedicated to solutions for combatting climate change. The Summit will take place on the 4th and 5th of October at the Odeon Theater, in Bucharest, at the initiative and with the support of BRD Groupe Société Générale.
One of the main conclusions of the research is that young people aged 15 to 24 years old are more aware of the impact of climate change and have a more pessimistic perspective than other generations who rate their optimism between 50% (older than 54) and 52% (25-54 years old). Such a gap can also be observed when rating pessimism among respondents from urban areas (56%) and rural areas (49%). When it comes to those born in Generation Z, the optimism rate is as low as 10%, followed by Millennials, aged 24-34 (14%) and 35-44 (16%), Generation X, aged 45-54 (21%) and Baby Boomers, over 55 years old (22%).
When it comes to solutions, more than half of the study’s respondents believe that by 2035 there will be ways to slow down climate change, versus 11% of respondents in 2021. Meanwhile, a third of the participants are distrustful. Furthermore, over 75% believe in the impact brought by climate change, while 23% believe there is little or no impact whatsoever. Generation Z respondents are the most aware of the gravity of the climate change impact, while significantly more men (4%) than women (1%) do not believe in its consequences.
The negative impact on agriculture and air pollution are perceived as the worst effects of climate change, followed by rising temperatures, desertification and floods and only then loss of biodiversity, wildfires and rising sea levels. Significant gaps can be observed between women’s and men’s perception, women assigning 6-10% more importance to each consequence of climate change compared to men. A similar contrast can be seen between rural and urban areas, the latter assigning 2-8% more importance to the 8 individual climate change impacts. There are fewer respondents worried about each one of these effects this year, compared to 2021.
Although 51% of the people interviewed had no idea that Romania, according to the Paris agreement, has pledged to cut down on greenhouse emissions by 2050, they are willing to make sacrifices in order to protect the environment: without any significant gaps between groups in terms of gender, habitat space or age, the vast majority of Romanians (70%) declare they support additional taxation of polluting products.
Eco-friendly attitudes are the most popular answer among Romanians when asked what measures companies should adopt, followed by fair pay as an incentive for qualified personnel and health benefits, which are preferred especially by Young Millennials, aged 25-34 (68%, compared to the average 59% across all age groups). Generation Z, however, values more than other generations educational development through skill refinement courses (55% of those aged 15-24, compared to the average of 41% for all other age groups).
The study was released by Social Innovation Solutions (SIS), an organization active in sustainability, social impact and innovation. The study, concluded in August of 2022, on a sample of 1081 subjects, represents a follow up on the research made in 2021 by the IZI Data agency for Social Innovation Solutions.