Believe it or not, the majority of us think that human activity contributes to global warming and that significant action by individuals and businesses must be taken to reduce global carbon emissions. An ETS (Emission Trading Scheme) was the preferred solution but a large number of us are unsure what to do. The main problem appears to be that most of us do not understand how an ETS works.
These are the key findings from a recently conducted McCrindle survey commissioned by Climakind and completed by 396 people from around Australia.
Regardless of the outcome of Copenhagen and the recent negative IPCC related press, almost three in four of those surveyed feel human activity has at least contributed to climate change, with 20 per cent believing it is the main cause. While almost two-thirds of respondents believe we need significant action to make deep cuts in carbon emissions, just over half of believe that this means more than just reducing household energy consumption.
What do we believe is the most effective solution to reduce carbon emissions?
More people thought “Reducing Industrial Carbon Emissions and Increasing Investment in Low Carbon Solutions” was more effective than any other option, see chart below. We also believe that trees are very important with the next two most popular choices being “Stop Deforestation” and “Planting Trees”.
We realise more needs to be done ourselves, but we’re not sure whether changing our habits will be effective with the result tied for “Change our Energy Usage Habits” by turning off lights, driving less, and not cooling the whole house, etc. Carbon Capture and Storage was the least popular solution. However, almost everyone agrees that “Do Nothing” is just NOT a solution at all.
Effectiveness of Solutions to Reduce Carbon Emissions
Source: Climakind (Note: ‘Somewhat Effective’ responses not shown in chart)
How should we achieve this reduction in industrial carbon emissions?
An Emissions Trading Scheme was considered to be more effective than a carbon tax by 38 per cent of respondents, though almost half (44%) were unsure. The majority of those surveyed had heard of an ETS and understand its goal is to reduce carbon emissions, but most admit to not having a good knowledge of how it works.
How much do we know about the ETS?
Source: Climakind
Clearly, we are not informed about the workings of the ETS or its successful implementation in Europe, with more than half of the respondents (58%) unsure as to whether an ETS has been successfully used elsewhere in the world to reduce carbon emissions and 28 per cent said it had not. The need for greater education on the impact of the ETS on individuals and small businesses was a standout concern.
With our little understanding of the ETS, it’s no surprise that people are cautious about the consequences of the ETS on the economy. A fear of price rises and job security was evident in respondent’s comments. Three in ten respondents believe implementing the ETS would probably ‘at least’ result in a deep economic recession and a massive loss of jobs, while 43 per cent are unsure. Almost three in four respondents believe the ETS would probably ‘at least’ result in significant price rises for all our goods and services!
This highlights the need for more accurate and broadly distributed information on the realities of implementing an ETS because we are clearly misinformed.
However some respondents showed an exceptional understanding of the risks of unmitigated climate change. One respondent summed up the urgent need to act now and wrote, “From a business and economical perspective, if money is not spent now, a significantly larger amount of money will have to be spent in the future as a result of climate change. From an environmental perspective, we really need to slow down climate change immediately, and money should not be the most important factor in the issue, full stop.”
What more needs to be said?
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More information about this topic in our carbon section
Original Image: Stefan Baudy via Flickr Creative Commons
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ETS: Wanted But Not Understood!
