Good understanding climate change it is essential to be able to make informed choices. To estimate the level, the sixth edition of the Climate Survey of EIB it focuses on citizen knowledge in three key areas: definitions and causes, consequences and solutions.
Participants answered 12 questions and were rated on a scale from 0 to 10, with 10 indicating the highest level of knowledge. With more than 30,000 respondents in 35 countries, including EU member states, the UK, the US, China, Japan, India and Canada, the EIB Climate Survey provides valuable insight into the understanding of general climate change.
According to EIB research, Italians are positioned at 16th place in the EU-27 (grade from 6.41/10), slightly above the European average of 6.37/10. Finland is on top with 7.22/10, followed by Luxembourg (7.19/10) and Sweden (6.96/10). Italy is right behind France and ahead of Greece in the test of knowing the causes and consequences of climate change and the solutions to solve them.
Generation gap
Young people between the ages of 20 and 29 in Italy are second in the European Union in terms of knowledge of climate change, surpassed only by young people in Luxembourg. Furthermore, they know better than Italians over 30 the causes and consequences of climate change and solutions to address it, with an overall score of 6.88/10 compared to 6.33/10 for over 30s in countries including Germany, France and Spain, where those over 30 are more informed about this topic than younger generations.
Overall knowledge gaps
Italians are well aware of the causes and consequences of climate change, but there is room to improve their knowledge of solutions. Similar to what is found in most EU countries, a large percentage of Italian respondents are not aware that reducing speed limits on roads (87%) or better insulating buildings (62%) can help combat climate change.
The degree of understanding of the causes of climate change
The first sub-index focuses on the definition and causes of climate change. In this area, the Italians received a rating equal to the EU average (7.24/10 compared to 7.21/10), placing them in 12th place in the European Union.
Regarding the definition of climate change, two thirds of Italian respondents (66%, although 5 percentage points below the EU average) chose the correct definition (“Long-term change in global climate patterns”). However, 30% believe that it is just a rapid change of weather in a short period of time, especially in summer.
More than three-quarters (79%) are also aware that the main causes of climate change are human activities, such as deforestation, agriculture, industry and transport. 12% believe that it is caused by extreme natural phenomena, such as volcanic eruptions and heat waves, while 9% believe that climate change is caused by the ozone hole.
When asked which are the three most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions in the world, most Italians (73%) correctly chose the United States, China and India.
Awareness of the consequences of climate change
When asked about the consequences of climate change, Italians received a score of 7.86/10 (tenth place in the European Union), which is significantly above the European average (7.65/10).
86% know it has a negative impact on human health (for example, it can lead to an increase in air pollutants such as ground-level ozone and particulate matter).
86% also correctly said that climate change is making world hunger worse, as it affects crop yields due to extreme weather.
Regarding the impact of climate change on sea level, 69% of Italians correctly answered that the global sea level is rising, but 12% of respondents said that it is falling, and 19% said that climate change has no specific impact on sea level rise.
The impact of climate change on migration, with an increase in forced displacement worldwide, is clear to three-quarters (74%) of respondents.
Lack of knowledge about solutions to combat climate change
In the last sub-index, Italians scored 4.14/10 (lower than the EU average of 4.25/10), indicating a significantly lower knowledge of actions that can help mitigate climate change compared to the other two areas analysed. These data highlight the general trend in EU countries, most of which performed poorly in this area. This result puts Italy in 17th place out of 27 EU countries.
Most Italians (71%) know that using recyclable products can help mitigate climate change.
63% also correctly said that using public transport instead of a private car is a step in the right direction.
But only a minority (38%, 6 percentage points below the EU average) know that better insulation of buildings can help mitigate climate change,
Less than a third (30%, 12 percentage points below the EU average) are aware that buying new clothes less often would also help, and only 13% of respondents (13 percentage points below the EU average) seem to know that lowering the speed limit on the roads would also help. helped.
Finally, Italians are not fully aware of the significant impact that digital use has on climate change, and only 6% of them know that watching fewer videos online can help mitigate it (3 points below the EU average of 9%).
Furthermore, as in most European countries, only a minority of Italians (47%) were able to correctly define an individual’s carbon footprint as “the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions emitted by a person in one year”.