Europeans Wish to Speed Up Green Transition

More than three quarters (77%) of EU citizens think climate change is a very serious problem at this moment, according to the latest Eurobarometer climate change survey. 61% of Hungarians respondents say they have taken action in the past six months to fight climate change.

A majority of Europeans think that the European Union (56%), national governments (56%), business and industry (53%) are responsible for tackling climate change. 35% hold themselves personally responsible. More than eight in ten respondents think that it is important that their national government (86%) and the European Union (85%) take action to improve energy efficiency by 2030 (e.g. by encouraging people to insulate their home, install solar panels or buy electric cars). 58% of EU citizens think the use of renewable energy sources should be accelerated, energy efficiency increased, and the transition to a green economy sped up, Considering energy price spikes and restrictions on gas supply due to the actions of Russia.

Citizens taking action
More than three quarters (77%) of all respondents think climate change is a very serious problem at this moment – ranking the seriousness of climate change between 7 and 10 on a scale to 10. Climate change is considered the most serious problem facing the world by respondents in seven countries: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland, and Sweden. It ranks among the top three in 16 of the 27 Member States.

The majority of Europeans think that the transition to a green economy should be sped up
Considering energy price spikes and restrictions on gas supply due to the actions of Russia, 58% of respondents think the use of renewable energy sources should be accelerated, energy efficiency increased, and the transition to a green economy sped up. One quarter (25%) think the pace of transition should be maintained. 12% think that more fossil fuels should be used during the energy crisis and the transition to the green economy slowed down. To relieve the economic pressure caused by the energy crisis, the preferred way to act is to accelerate the rollout of renewable energy (29%) and take economic measures (29%). This is followed by giving direct financial support (16%), investing more in energy efficiency measures (15%). Noteworthy, the least selected option is to diversify supply of fossil fuel imports into the EU (6%).