Media release
August 10, 2012

Survey finds people want more action on climate change

New Zealanders want the Government and business to do more about climate change – but most of all we want other countries to do something.

A HorizonPoll for Carbon News shows that 67.5 per cent of respondents want business to do more to address global warming.

Just 12.4 per cent of respondents said that business was currently doing the right amount, with 36.3 per cent wanting business to do more, and 32.2 per cent saying it should be doing much more.

The poll, of 2829 New Zealanders aged 18-plus, taken between July 5 and July 16, also makes a strong case for more political action, with 64.4 per cent wanting Parliament to do more, 60.6 per cent wanting the Prime Minister to do more and 62.9 per cent saying government officials should do more.

The news isn’t good for Prime Minister John Key, with 15.4 per cent saying he’s doing the right amount, 26.1 per cent saying he should do more, and 34.5 per cent saying he should do much more. Just 2.7 per cent want him to do less.

Carbon News, which provides a specialist intelligence service on the carbon markets, reports: We seem to accept that we can do more ourselves, too, with 63.7 per cent saying that citizens should be making more effort on climate change.

But the strongest call is for other countries to take action. In response to the question “who should act on global warming”, 74.1 per cent said that other countries should be doing more or much more.

Just 4.5 per cent of respondents said that other countries were doing “the right amount” on global warming.

The survey results are consistent with findings from a Yale University survey earlier this year. The Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the George and Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication found that 70 per cent of surveyed Americans wanted business to do more.

Results of the HorizonPoll, (with US comparisons where available) are:
NZ More NZ Less USA
More
Business 67.5 2.8 70
Citizens themselves 63.7 11.6 67
Parliament (US Congress) 64.4 6.2 64.4
Prime Minister (US President) 60.6 5.1 54
All Government officials 62.9 15.5 NA
All political parties 53.8 5.4 NA
Other countries 74.1 3.6 NA
• The survey was weighted by age, gender, personal income, region, ethnicity and party vote 2011 to provide a representative sample of the New Zealand adult population. The maximum margin of error at a 95 per cent confidence level is +/- 1.8 per cent.

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