"Most of people's environmental knowledge does not come from reading scientific books, but from the media," says
Josu Meso
, a sociology professor at the University of Castilla La Mancha. According to the study
The ecological culture of Europeans,
by
Juan Carlos Rodríguez
, despite the "involvement" of the media and environmental policies of governments, the ecological opinions and behaviors of Europeans have not increased in the last ten years, something that
Funcas
, publisher of the study, describes as "surprising". Despite the fact that the work assures that Europeans attribute "much or enough importance to environmental protection", this is the same today as it was a decade ago.
Based on the results of the
Eurobarometers
on the environment and energy carried out between 2010 and 2020, the report has evaluated the way and depth in which the European population has participated in the public discussion on these issues. Therefore, it keeps an eye on the evolution of the opinions and behaviors of citizens in the last decade. Although few questions in these surveys include
tradeoffs
, Rodríguez says that Europeans tend to answer in terms of cost. For him, his answers are a polyphony, "the voice of Europeans resonates quite authentically in these polls, especially if they are heard as a choir, observing the dominant tonality but also listening to sopranos, contraltos ...", he pointed out.
A matter of income
With a marked difference between the North European countries and the countries of Eastern and Southern Europe, the study points out that those with a higher per capita income are the ones with the greatest knowledge on environmental issues, contrary to the poorest countries . Specifically, the ecological culture of countries such as Denmark, Finland or Sweden is above that of Romania, Poland, Lithuania, Italy and Croatia, which, in addition to feeling less informed, demonstrate behaviors, knowledge and attitudes that give less importance to environment. For this reason, the study suggests that it is possible that the citizens of the wealthiest countries are more willing to adopt measures to protect the environment and reduce greenhouse gases. However, in low- and middle-income countries,This is blurred since the general opinion is that these measures involve cost increases that are difficult to assume.
On the other hand
, for Spaniards environmental problems occupy a secondary place
in front of other big problems and its level of environmental commitment is situated in a medium / low level. Despite the stability in the importance that European citizens give to the environment, put in perspective in the face of other problems, the situation changes, especially when juxtaposed with situations related to material well-being such as the economy, unemployment, poverty or the situation fiscal. Furthermore, when it comes to climate change, Europeans rank it below other global challenges such as poverty and hunger. In terms of values, "respect for the planet" also lags behind other more important considerations for citizens such as peace or human rights.
The truth is that for Rodríguez the voice of the public on environmental issues is usually absent, with the exception of citizen representation in the electoral processes of the countries.
For this reason, surveys are a way of listening to the murmur of public opinion and of obtaining clues about the behavior of the owners of these opinions.
"In national elections, environmental issues are not central, they are peripheral. For this reason, the elected parties do not have to tune in to the preferences of the voters, if they exist," he said.
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