Most Europeans back climate action until the invoice arrives, YouGov poll finds majorities support tree-planting and emitter taxes but reject fuel duty and flight taxes
French concern hit record 42 percent during summer heatwaves
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Firefighters from Marseille battle a blaze near Bordeaux in July. Devastating wildfires this summer have elevated concerns about the climate crisis in France. Photograph: Emma Da Silva/AP
theguardian.com
A record 42 percent of French respondents told YouGov they were "very worried" about climate change in August, up from 28 percent in April — and the poll capturing that spike, conducted across six European countries, was taken days before the Cop31 conference opens in Turkey.
Between 69 percent in Germany and 80 percent in France believe the climate is changing; only 1 to 4 percent deny it, while 14 to 20 percent say the change is not human-driven. Between 65 and 83 percent in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK say they are worried about the climate crisis, with concern spiking during this summer's heatwaves. In Germany, the "very concerned" figure rose from 27 percent in April to 40 percent in August — then fell back to 31 percent once summer ended.
What respondents support and what they refuse splits cleanly along the line of who pays. Majorities back planting more trees, subsidising energy efficiency, banning single-use plastics and taxing big emitters. Increasing fuel duty, limiting meat and dairy, taxing air fares and banning new petrol and diesel cars are opposed in every country surveyed. On the personal side, creating green space at home and eating seasonal fruit and vegetables are popular; shopping exclusively secondhand and paying more for flights are not.
The poll also shows where Europeans want the decisions made: 50 to 54 percent in France, Italy and Germany, 61 percent in Denmark and 64 percent in Spain say climate decisions should be taken at EU rather than national level — the same level at which the costs of those decisions fall on someone else's voters. Between 79 and 89 percent across the six countries think international cooperation would combat the crisis more effectively.
Optimism is itself divided. Between 45 and 63 percent say it is not too late to avert the worst impacts but that it would require a drastic change in approach; between 11 and 24 percent say it is already too late, and between 9 and 20 percent believe current measures are enough.
In all six countries, the popular measures were the ones where the bill goes elsewhere — trees, subsidies and taxes on big emitters. The unpopular ones were fuel duty, meat limits, air-fare taxes and the end of new petrol cars.