An Essential Poll has found clear majority support among Australians for immediate action on climate change. The report came just a day after an international study that found Australians have some of the lowest awareness of environmental crisis in the G20.
Essential Poll: Australians want immediate action on global warming
The Essential Poll’s principal finding was that 61% of Australians want the government to move to a net zero emissions by 2030 target. A further quarter of respondents were neutral and just 13% opposed.
Wide majorities also supported “Stop public funding of all coal and gas mining in Australia” and “Plan for the closure of all fossil fuel-burning power stations, and transition to renewables and battery storage by 2030.” There was even 47% support for phasing out new petrol cars by 2030, with just 24% opposed and a further 30% neutral.
The findings contrast with Scott Morrison’s lukewarm commitment to adopting even a 2050 target for net zero emissions. According to the latest UN climate change panel analysis, “Global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C will be exceeded during the 21st century unless deep reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades.”
Australians least concerned about environmental crisis
In international terms, however, Australians are actually some of the least concerned about environmental crisis. That’s according to Global Commons Alliance polling across the G20 countries.
Poorer countries including Indonesia, Brazil and Turkey were the most concerned with ecological crisis. Well over 80% of the population of these countries expressed that position. In contrast, in the UK, US and Australia, just 60-66% say they are concerned about environmental crisis.
Three in every four people also agreed that “the way the economy works should prioritise the health and wellbeing of people and nature rather than focusing solely on profit and increasing wealth.” The other quarter thought that, “the government should prioritise jobs and business profits in existing industries, even if this means some harm to nature.”
That’s profound support from the 5 billion people across the G20 countries for governments to step in and control the excesses of an unregulated economic system.
Feature image courtesy of @draufsicht via Unsplash.
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