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Poles on Climate Change
2009-09-04
- the British Embassy in Warsaw, Partner for Climate presents.
The publication contains of information on: social awareness on climate change, methods of energy generation and climate change, social expectations towards policies of preventing climate change, pro-climate activities and model activities to protect the climate. The are also comments of the experts added.
Main conclusions:
- The attitude of Poles towards climate protection is highly institutionalised. Action undertaken to counteract climate change is perceived primarily as a duty of the government – both central and local. Among factors that have the strongest influence on effective climate protection, the ones that are most often mentioned are within the power of the authorities, that is making the law stricter and enforcing the existing regulations.
- Non-renewable energy sources are perceived as the most harmful, but at the same time the most efficient sources used for energy generation. Most Poles agree with the view that generating energy from non-renewable sources only intensifies climate change, whereas getting energy from renewable sources protects the climate from negative changes.
- Action undertaken to fight against climate change is perceived as costly, therefore Poles, even though they do see the significance of the problem, opt rather for a ”policy of small steps”, which is less burdensome for the economy.
- Poles strongly support promoting and rewarding pro-climate activity, but do not approve of the introduction of dictates in the form of legislation and punishment.
- What is interesting, is the low level of awareness and insufficient knowledge of the respondents about innovative carbon technologies, including carbon capture and storage (CCS), as well as geothermal energy and bio fuels. The reason for this may be the fact that such solutions are not widely applied and the lack of easily available information on the topic.
- Most respondents share the view that their lifestyles influence the climate. The behaviour of the respondents is consistent with their personal opinions about the effectiveness of individual methods. However, while analysing the results one must take into account the economic factor, which influences the choice of certain behaviour – in many cases the main motivation to act may be economising to achieve certain financial benefit, and not ecological reasons.
Poles on climate change (454 KB)
Experts comments:
Prof. dr hab. Maciej Sadowski, Head of the Climate Protection Centre, Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Institute of Environmental Protection:
"The results of the study “Poles on climate change” provide a valuable source of information for all those who deal with climate issues. The study is also very important from the point of view of social education. (...)"
