The first part of the EIB’s 2021-2022 climate survey examines people’s views on climate change in a rapidly changing world. The results of the current survey focus on how citizens perceive climate change and what steps they think their home country should take in this regard.
– 74% of Czechs think that tackling climate change and its consequences is the biggest challenge of the 21st century
– 66% believe that the climate crisis worries them more than their government
-54% think their country will not be able to significantly reduce its carbon emissions by 2050, as committed in the Paris Agreement
-59% would be for stricter government action that would require a change in public behavior
-66% would welcome taxation on the products and services that contribute most to global warming
-85% of Czechs want short-distance high-speed air transport to be replaced, in cooperation with neighboring countries
-74% of Czechs think that tackling climate change and its consequences is the biggest challenge of the 21st century. This number varies for different demographic categories (although in all cases it remains high): from -69% for Czech men to 78% for Czech women, from 82% for respondents aged 15-29 to 67% for people over 65 and from 77% for low-income people to 71% for the high-income category.
The vast majority of Czechs (67%) believe that climate change has an impact on their daily lives (which is less than the European average of 77%).
These are just some of the results of the first report on the 2021-2022 climate survey, published by the European Investment Bank (EIB) on 27 October. The EIB is the European Union’s credit institution and the world’s largest multilateral lender for climate projects.
The vast majority of Czechs (67%) believe that climate change has an impact on their daily lives (which is less than the European average, which is particularly high in the 15-29 age group (71%), among the elderly. At the age of 64, it declines by as much as 11 percentage points (60%), with respondents’ answers having little effect on their incomes: 65% of high-income earners and 70% of low-income earners say climate change is having an impact on their daily lives. .
66% believe that the climate crisis worries them more than their government. They are therefore relatively skeptical about the ability of their home country to carry out an ambitious ecological transformation. 46% think that their country will not be able to significantly reduce its carbon emissions by 2050, as committed in the Paris Agreement. The majority of respondents (54%) then believe that countries will not meet their carbon reduction targets.
Therefore, 59% of Czechs were in favor of stricter government measures – similar to those introduced in the fight against the COVID-19 crisis – that would force people to change their behavior.
At the same time, only 12% of Czechs believe that global warming is not caused by human activity.
Energy debate:
When asked what source of energy their country should give priority to in the fight against global warming, almost half of Czechs (45%) answered in the sense that renewable energy sources are the most suitable for solving the climate crisis. At the European level, this view is even more widespread (63%). Renewable energy sources in the Czech Republic have a high level of support among people under the age of 30 (53% of them are in favor). For people over 64, this share is 19 percentage points lower (34%). At the same time, respondents’ answers have little effect on their income: 45% of lower-income people would support the further development of renewable energy sources, while for higher-income people it is 48%.
Overall, Czechs have a much higher level of support for nuclear energy than the rest of Europe (26% vs. 12%). In the Czech Republic, people over the age of 64 (32%) are much more inclined to nuclear energy than people under the age of 30 (14%). There is also a clear gender gap: nuclear energy is much more supported by men (36%) than women (16%).
Last but not least, Czechs think a little more than other Europeans that their country should rely on energy savings (20% vs. 17%). In the Czech Republic, people over the age of 64 (30%) are in favor of this possibility. This is 15 percentage points more than respondents under the age of 29 (only 15% of them identified energy savings as a priority). At the same time, energy savings were well above the strengthening of the role of natural gas (6%). The gender gap is also noticeable in these savings: far more women (27%) than men (12%) tend to save energy.
The most popular solution in the fight against climate change among the inhabitants of the Czech Republic:
The majority of Czechs (66%) would support – albeit to a lesser extent than Europe as a whole (69%) – the introduction of a tax on products and services that contribute most to global warming. For such a tax would be up to 64% of respondents with lower incomes. Czechs would also welcome a minimum five-year warranty on any electrical or electronic product (91%) and the replacement of short-haul flights with low-emission high-speed trains (85%). They also favor softer measures, such as strengthening education and raising awareness among young people about sustainable consumption (89%).
EIB Vice President Lilyana Pavlova said: “The EIB Climate Survey has shown us that Czechs enjoy strong support for the introduction of new measures and climate instruments, such as cleaner energy sources, in combating climate change and protecting their country from the devastating effects of it. The fact that the Czechs are well aware of the dangers posed by global temperature rises and are ready to support immediate and decisive action in this direction will enable us to fulfill our ambitions in the field of climate protection more quickly, which is a good sign. The EIB stands ready to support a fair transformation in the Czech Republic and to contribute as much as possible to building a carbon-neutral, green and sustainable world economy, which is key to limiting global temperature growth to 1.5 ° C or less. As an EU climate bank, we will focus on clean energy, energy savings, sustainable mobility solutions and innovative projects in order to ensure the success of this mission. The high level of support for these steps in the Czech Republic is a good sign of the success of our global fight against further climate change, which currently poses the greatest existential threat to all of humanity.”
