A new European Commission poll has found that the ongoing economic crisis across Europe has not dissuaded people from supporting action on climate change in the region.
The poll found that at least two-thirds of people in EU member states said that transforming the economy by reducing carbon emissions and developing clean technologies would lift the economy and employment, The Guardian has reported. Further, about 70% of people across the EU think that reducing the half billion euros of fossil fuel imports per year would be a good idea.
It seems that people recognise that a choice between economy and environment is a false one. The European Union’s climate chief, Connie Hedegaard, acknowledges that the poll confirms that “a clear majority of Europeans expect their politicians to tackle the climate challenge now”, and that “It is not either growth and competitiveness or the climate, it is both, it has to be both.”
Although climate change action has often taken a back seat to the economic crisis in recent years, if this poll is anything to go by, the majority of people in Europe understand that transitioning to a low-carbon economy will be a positive move, both for the economy and for the climate.
Image CC licensed by Andreas Klinke Johannsen: An Offshore windfarm near Copenhagen, Denmark
Via Guardian
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