Graphic shows results of the Ipsos Mori survey.
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CLIMATE

Three in four say Earth is nearing “tipping point”

By Jordi Bou

August 17, 2021 - Asked whether Earth’s climate is close to abrupt and irreversible “tipping points” due to human activity, three in four people agreed strongly, in a global survey of the world’s wealthiest nations.

The Ipsos Mori survey for the Global Commons Alliance (GCA), conducted before the publication of a bombshell UN climate science report, showed that more than half (58 percent) of respondents in G20 nations were very concerned or extremely concerned about the state of the planet.

Among G20 nations, 73% of people believed human activity had pushed the Earth close to tipping points. Awareness of these risks was markedly higher in the less wealthy countries, than the richest nations.

The lead author of the report, Owen Gaffney of the GCA, said the results showed strong global support for urgent, decisive action on the climate and nature crises.

This snapshot of global public opinion was taken before the northern hemisphere summer of record-breaking heatwaves, floods and fires, and in the run-up to the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow in November.

Data was collected through an Ipsos i-Omnibus Online Panel survey, run between 27th April and 14th May 2021. Within each country, data has been weighted to be broadly representative of the profile of the population aged 16-75.

In combining responses from across the G20, we did not weight by population size because of the large differences in population across the G20 countries.

The sample for the survey was 19,735 adults aged 16-75 across the G20: around 1,000 interviews in each country.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 17/08/2021; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Getty Images
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