Key Scottish Environment Statistics 2009

Public Attitudes

Agreement or Disagreement with Statements about Climate Change and the Environment: 2008

To what extent do you agree/disagree with each statement? (percentage of respondents) ⁴

Respondents to the Scottish Environmental Attitudes and Behaviours Survey 2008 ¹ were asked to indicate the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with a series of statements about climate change and the environment. These are presented above.

Respondents were asked if they agreed with the statement, "It is not worth Scotland trying to combat climate change, because other countries will just cancel out what we do". Overall, 22% agreed with this statement and 65% disagreed. When asked if they agreed that "it's not worth me doing things to help the environment if others don't do the same", 22% agreed and 68% disagreed.

A sizeable proportion of people struggle to make the link between climate change and their own individual behaviour, with over a third (35%) agreeing, 'I don't believe my behaviour and everyday lifestyle contribute to climate change' (48% disagreed and 16% gave a neutral response).

The results further indicate that, when set against other day to day concerns, climate change is not top of the Scottish public's priorities. Over a third of respondents (37%) agreed that the 'environment is a low priority for me compared with a lot of other things in my life', while less than half (46%) disagreed with this. Also, more people agreed (45%) than disagreed (32%) that, 'tackling climate change shouldn't come at the expense of the Scottish economy', while 23% expressed no opinion or did not know.

Source: Scottish Government