Hongkongers are more concerned with climate change than other global issues such as the economy, a survey has found.
Yet while green groups agree awareness has risen, they said the fact remains that few people take action to help ease the problem.
Some 15,000 people from 15 countries and regions around the world took part in an HSBC-commissioned online survey in August and September on their attitude to climate change and what should be done on it.
It was the fourth survey of is kind and, for the first time, climate change was the biggest issue in the city. One in four Hong Kong respondents said climate change - among eight global issues - was their top concern, followed by global economic stability and pandemic diseases. Among all places surveyed, global economic stability and terrorism were seen as the most important issues.
Despite the high level of Hongkongers' awareness of climate change, 83 per cent of them said they understood little about the topic, with two per cent admitting they had no idea what it was.
About two-thirds of the city's respondents disagreed that the people and organisations responsible for climate change were doing what was needed. 'Clearly combatting climate change is on Hong Kong people's agenda, so it should also be on the government's,' Mark McCombe, HSBC Hong Kong's chief executive, said.
Despite the lack of understanding, a third of the local respondents said they were making an effort in their daily lives to help reduce climate change, equivalent to the world average.
