Climate Change

What lifestyle changes are people ready to make to help fight climate change?

climate survey eib

Photo: PlanetMallika from Pixabay

Published

January 15, 2021

Country

Comments

comments icon

0

Share

Published:

January 15, 2021

Country:

Comments:

comments icon

0

Share

Americans, Chinese, and Europeans say it would be easier to give up flying to fight climate change than to stop eating meat, buying new clothes, owning a car, or using video streaming services. However, for Europeans and Americans giving up their car would be the hardest option, and for the Chinese, to stop eating meat.

These are the results of a survey conducted in 30 countries, which examines how people intend to combat climate change in 2021, what they are willing to give up to tackle the climate crisis, and how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their travel habits and intentions to fight climate change.

18% of Europeans say giving up Netflix, Youtube… would be the easiest option

40% for Europeans, 38% Americans, and 43% for Chinese respondents chose flights when asked what would be the easiest for them to get used to: giving up flying, meat, new clothes, video streaming services (Netflix, Youtube…), or a car in order to fight climate change. This figure is even higher in Poland (46%), the Czech Republic (48%), Hungary (48%), Slovakia (48%), and Croatia (51%).

18% of Europeans say giving up video streaming would be the easiest option, 16% say that giving up meat would be the easiest, 15% say that giving up new clothes would be the easiest option, while 11% say that giving up their car would be the easiest choice to make to fight climate change, according to the third edition of the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) Climate Survey.

eib climate survey behaviour

Overall, only 10% of Chinese people and 19% of Europeans say they are making radical lifestyle changes to fight climate change, compared with as many as 27% of Americans.

 

Giving up their car would be the hardest option for Europeans and Americans

However, 39% of Europeans and 38% of Americans say that giving up their car would be the most difficult option, followed by stopping eating meat (26%-26%), and giving up video streaming (15%-17%). People living in rural areas (51%) say that giving up their car would be the hardest choice, along with people in Italy (46%), Slovenia (46%), Malta (49%) and Luxembourg (52%).

People in China, however, find it hardest to stop eating meat (35%), and then to give up video streaming (22%) and owning a car (18%).

survey eu us china climate change flights

People are more afraid of COVID-19 than climate change

eib climate survey covid

Most respondents in China, the EU, and the US say that they are more concerned about catching COVID-19 than about climate change, according to the survey results.

However, respondents still believe their choices and actions can make a difference in tackling climate change: 72% of Europeans and Americans, and 84% of Chinese.

Compared to 2019, the number of people answering positively to this question increased everywhere.

Comments (0)

Be the first one to comment on this article.

Enter Your Comment
Please wait... Please fill in the required fields. There seems to be an error, please refresh the page and try again. Your comment has been sent.

Related Articles

epa emissions funding us green bank

Trump administration suspends USD 20 billion in emissions reduction funding

12 March 2025 - The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has frozen USD 20 billion in funding for greenhouse gas reduction projects.

radiator heating geothermal storage germany

Germany looks into underground heat storage to decarbonize heating

12 March 2025 - The technology allows storing heated water in underground caverns and using it for warming homes and public and private buildings

Belgrade energy forum 2025. BEF2025

Belgrade Energy Forum 2025 – where the leaders of energy transition in SEE meet (May 14-15)

10 March 2025 - The third Belgrade Energy Forum on May 14 and 15 will bring together key actors of the energy transition in Southeast Europe.

eu european commission cbam delay leaked document

European Commission seeks one-year delay for CBAM in leaked draft

24 February 2025 - The European Commission's leaked draft legislative proposal contains significant potential changes to how the EU's CBAM will operate