People around the globe support shift away from fossil fuels

We’re at a crossroads.

Countries can continue down the fossil-fueled road they’ve been driving on or take an exit to a greener future. The United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is calling for global greenhouse gas emissions to be cut by 43% by 2030 to avert catastrophic consequences.

People around the world agree major change needs to happen soon. The vast majority (84%) of people, on average, across 30 countries say it’s very or somewhat important to them that their country shifts away from fossil fuels to more climate-friendly and sustainable energy sources over the next five years. That’s according to a new online survey of 22,534 adults under the age of 75 conducted between February 18 and March 4 by Ipsos’ Global Advisor for the World Economic Forum.

Hot topic

South Africa tied with Peru as the country with the strongest support (at 93%) for wanting their country to shift to greener energy sources. South Africa’s state-owned electricity utility has been mired in controversy, leading to rolling outages and rising prices, says Mari Harris, Knowledge Director of Public Affairs for Ipsos in Sub-Saharan Africa. While there’s growing concern about climate-related issues in South Africa, she suspects the strong support for moving away from fossil fuels is likely “an expression that all energy resources and energy used in the country should be better planned, maintained, regulated and administered.”

Meanwhile, in the Netherlands support to shift away from fossil fuels is in line with the global average at 84%. Sjoerd van Heck, Service Line Lead of Public Affairs for Ipsos in the Western European country, says climate change is top of mind for many. “Most Dutch people agree that we have to do our part — as a country — in the worldwide shift towards sustainable energy.”

But, there’s a divide. “People on the left are leaning towards the view that the Netherlands should be a frontrunner compared to other countries, versus people on the right of the political spectrum saying we should not do more than necessary and pointing to other countries needing to do their part.”

Switzerland was just below the global average, with 81% of Swiss people wanting a shift to greener energy sources in their country by 2027. Hana Baronijan, Service Line Leader of Public Affairs for Ipsos in the country, points out that could be because almost 60% of Switzerland’s electricity is already generated by hydropower (largely via water from the country’s iconic mountains).

She adds Switzerland is likely to move further away from fossil fuels as current climate change issues have “only accelerated those discussions around energy transition.”

Walking the walk

While Switzerland is already a global leader when it comes to green energy, they are still many laggards. Yet, our survey shows there’s strong support across all 30 countries surveyed, from a low of 72% to a high of 93%, for a continued shift to more climate-friendly energy options. Only time will tell if all the talk about green energy from politicians around the world these days actually turns into more action.