Amid the ongoing climate change crisis, six in ten Indians believe government and businesses doing enough to tackle climate change

Six in ten urban Indians (61 per cent) believe the effect of climate change in their area so far has been severe while 65 per cent stated that they foresee the effect likely to go worse in the next ten years, according to an Ipsos global study on climate change.

The survey report released ahead of the COP28 UN Climate Change Conference stated that at least 57 per cent of global citizens and 61 per cent of urban Indians perceive the effect of climate change as severe.

Mexico (81 per cent), Brazil (79 per cent) and Turkey (79 per cent) were most concerned about the impact of climate change. Most global markets and citizens felt that their government is not doing enough to guide citizens in making better choices for tackling climate change – especially 59 per cent of global citizens and most citizens in Peru (81 per cent), Argentina (81 per cent), Colombia (76 per cent) held this view.

A total of 63 per cent of Indians believe that the central government is doing enough to tackle climate change. About 62 per cent said that businesses are doing enough to provide citizens with better choices for tackling the issue.

However, 61 per cent of global citizens claimed that their businesses are not doing enough to deal with climate change. Further, 49 per cent of urban Indians also said their government keeps them informed about the potential impact of climate change.

Only 31 per cent of global citizens held this view.

“Climate change crisis is looming large, and India has been in the throes of it with unpredictable climate crisis like poor air quality, floods, landslides, drought and water crisis. As a nation, governments, businesses and citizens have adopted changes in their daily lives to deal with the climate crisis, by saying no to single-use plastic, making eco-friendly choices and reducing their carbon footprint,” said Amit Adarkar, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ipsos India.

He stated that campaigns run by the government, businesses and celebrities have initiated behavioural change in citizens, even around the disposal of garbage, by segregation.

“India is playing its part responsibly, though keeping the severity of climate change in mind, we could further accelerate our efforts, in tackling the harmful impact of climate change,” added Adarkar.