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Fighting climate change is a priority for Asians but some still support fossil fuel use, Facebook survey finds
- People in Asia worry about climate change and believe their governments should do more to combat it, but many lack information about the problem, survey finds
- Only 16 per cent of Indonesians think it is mostly human-caused; 76 per cent of Filipinos believe steps to curb climate change would have economic benefits
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Asians want more information on climate change and believe that tackling it should be a priority policy for governments. However, when it comes to the use of fossil fuels – the lifeblood of the tourism industry for many Asian countries – Indonesians and Filipinos are much less keen to see them phased out than Spaniards and Britons.
The findings come from a global survey of more than 76,000 active monthly Facebook users in 31 countries and territories, and could offer insights for the global delegates who are currently meeting at COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland, to discuss how they will cut greenhouse gas emissions and try to mitigate the climate emergency.
The survey was conducted by the Yale Programme on Climate Change Communication in partnership with Facebook Data for Good – a team of “humanitarian experts”, according to the social media giant – in February and March this year. Its aims are to better understand the level of awareness of climate change among the public, as well as their opinions on remedial action.
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Survey respondents were aged 18 and older and included, in Asia, those from India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
The survey found that although the overwhelming majority of people around the world believe that climate change is happening, fewer realise it is caused mostly by human activities.
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