Is 'green' the new black?

Assuming you're not a green activist, you could be forgiven for being a little – dare we say it – bored of climate change. That's not very PC, but over the past twelve months our over-heating earth has consistently hit front pages across the globe, a multitude of green products and marketing campaigns have debuted and governments have been elected or ejected on the back of their green credentials.

Yawn, right? Wrong. Not only are people worried about the state of the planet, they are acting on their concern in big numbers.

The second annual Synovate and BBC World News climate change study showed that more and more people are concerned about climate change (72% across the globe and as high as 88% in Spain). But, even more importantly, more and more people are actually doing something about it. People are changing their behaviour in a dramatic fashion and the past year has taken all-things-green mainstream.

Synovate spoke with over 18,000 people across 22 nations and found that climate change is a truly hot issue.

Eco-worriers

The global level of worry over climate change has climbed to more than seven out of every ten people concerned about the state of our planet. Where it gets startling, though, is in some individual countries where concern has rocketed over the past year.

Most notable was the United States, an oft-maligned nation when it comes to the environment, where concern shot up to 80% in 2008, from 57% in 2007.

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It's not easy being green

It's crunch time. People are worried. Climate change is mainstream and green is the new norm. So is all this concern converting to action? The survey asked people around the world what they were actually doing to help combat global warming.

Synovate's global head of media, Steve Garton, said he was heartened to see big jumps in actions taken across many markets in the world.

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America earns its green stripes

You cannot get past the fact that more emissions come from the US than anywhere else (although arguably China is about to take over!). So what happens in America matters... there, and to the rest of the world. The good news is that, with that huge leap in concern from 57% to 80%, Americans are standing up to be counted, taking responsibility and changing their ways.

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Green for good in China?

Of course another major carbon emitter in this world is China... a developing nation with a fast-growing economy, massive population and booming emissions as well.

So what do the Chinese make of all this climate change talk?

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A climate for change

For the first time, the 2008 survey asked respondents across the world how they think climate change could best be tackled in their own countries. Across the world, 45% believe our best hope is through the changed behaviour of ordinary citizens. The citizens who show the highest sense of personal responsibility are from Indonesia (two thirds think ordinary citizens are the best way to address climate change), Thailand (64%) and the Philippines (59%).

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About the 2008 Synovate and BBC World News climate change survey

The Synovate Global Omnibus survey on climate change interviewed 18,453 respondents across 22 countries the USA, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Australia, India, Japan, Poland, UAE, UK, South Korea, Brazil, South Africa, Spain, Denmark, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Canada. The survey was conducted throughout the first quarter of 2008.

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