The Spanish, more willing than their European neighbors in personal action against climate change

The Spanish score high compared to six other European countries in their willingness to introduce changes in lifestyle in the face of the challenge of the climate crisis, according to a YouGov survey and published by The Guardian, based on a thousand surveys in our country and many others in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Sweden and Denmark.

Spain leads the table when it comes to supporting subsidies to make homes more efficient (86%), the ban on single-use plastic (75%) or tree plantations (72%). 44% of the population is in favor of using only public transport, cycling or walking in the city, and 38% of drivers are likely to switch to electric cars.

77% of Spaniards admit to being “concerned” or “very concerned” about the impacts of climate change, surpassed by France (79%) and Italy (81%). The percentages are more or less similar when it comes to pointing to “human activity” as the cause of the problem, compared to 20% who do not question it and barely 5% in the ranks of “denialism.”

The survey, however, detects a gap between environmental awareness and the will to introduce changes that alter the lifestyle. Less than 20% of the population is willing to give up the consumption of meat and dairy products. Interestingly, Italy is the country where more people (43%) would limit meat consumption to three servings a week, compared to 28% in Germany.

The United Kingdom leads the rest with a change in diet to eat seasonal foods (vegetables and fruit), supported by more than 55% of the population, although only 24% would support making the measure mandatory by law.

In five of the seven countries, the majority of the population is in favor of imposing user taxes on the plane, with Denmark and Sweden taking the lead in this chapter.. The country of Greta Thunberg is, however, the leading bottom in raising awareness of climate change, with 60% of the population acknowledging that they are “concerned”.

The two most “unpopular” personal decisions would be to limit the number of children below the desired number (below 20%) and to buy only second-hand clothes (17% in Germany, 24% in the UK).

Between 76% and 85% of the seven countries believe that the best way to deal with climate change is with agreements that put countries to work together, although there is much more disparity of opinion on the scope of individual actions.