Public opinion favours greater government action to tackle climate change

A new poll conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org, a University of Maryland initiative, has found that, in 15 out of 19 nations, a majority of those surveyed felt that their national government should give a higher priority to tackling climate change.

18,578 respondents in nations that comprise 60 percent of the world's population were polled. However as Sam Roggeveen at the Lowy Institute, an Australian think-tank, suggests, those surveyed were not asked what action they wanted their governments to take or how much they would be willing to pay for it. When the Lowy Institute polled Australians in 2008, more than half suggested they would only be willing to spend $10 (AUD) or less per month on top of their existing electricity bill. Although it is positive that public opinion regarding the need for action on climate change is building, in the months leading up to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen more must be done in order to couple the desire for action with the reality of the costs involved.