A new global Ipsos survey of 21,231 adults reveals that, on average across 29 countries, just under a third (31%) of people agree that their government has a clear plan in place for how government, businesses and people are going to work together to tackle climate change. Agreement has fallen since last year by an average of eight percentage points across the 26 countries surveyed both in 2022 and this year.
Considering various environmental concerns, the accumulation of waste, packaging and plastic is the third-biggest concern across the globe (41%), after the threat posed by climate change (46%) and extreme climate events (43%).
Following a very challenging couple of years in 2020 and 2021, many people around the world feel 2022 has been a little better. However, uncertainty about both short- and longer-term futures prevails. Global citizens are struggling to be optimistic about 2023 as most express concern about the state of the economy, the environment and world security.
Purchasing power is now the key priority on a global level. Despite the importance they attribute to the climate and extreme weather events, people are less inclined to become involved and are more dubious as to the human origins of the phenomenon.
Consumers globally believe it is important for such a treaty to incorporate five key measures to tackle plastic pollution : ban unnecessary single-use plastics, ban types of plastic that cannot be easily recycled, have rules making manufacturers and retailers responsible for reducing, re-using and recycling plastic packaging, have global rules requiring all new plastic products to contain recycled plastic and require labelling of plastic products so that it is clear how to responsibly sort them for reuse, recycling or disposal.
