Airplane, fashion, meat, online video or car, what are the French, Europeans, Americans and Chinese ready to give up to fight against climate change? - GoodPlanet mag'

For 40% of Europeans, 38% of Americans and 43% of Chinese, stopping flying would be the easiest thing to do in order to act against global warming, according to a recent survey by the European Investment Bank (EIB). Its opinion poll asks respondents to choose among 5 aspects of everyday life which they would be most willing to give up, between meat, the plane, online videos, the purchase of clothes and the private car. And also, conversely, what action would be the most difficult in their eyes.

What are the French ready to give up?

According to this survey, 8 out of 10 French people say they are making efforts in favor of the climate. However, 6 out of 10 believe that their behavior can make a difference.

For 41% of French people, no longer owning a car would be the most difficult thing to do in favor of the climate. Giving up meat comes second with 23% of respondents, followed by giving up video streaming and buying new clothes, both cited by 13% of respondents. And, finally, no longer flying comes last in the ranking of the most difficult actions to take in favor of the climate. It is interesting to note that parting with one's car is judged to be the most constraining gesture by 56% of over 65s compared to only 26% of 15-29 year olds, which testifies to a different relationship to the car among the younger generations.

The French rank the following actions in order of ease: giving up the plane (40%), no longer eating meat (18%), no longer watching videos online (18%), not buying new clothes ( 14%) and finally no longer having a private car (10%).

In Europe, give up the plane yes, but not the car

7 out of 10 Europeans believe that their behavior can help fight global warming. In the European Union, giving up the plane tops the list (40%) of the most popular gestures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as giving up video streaming (18%), stopping eating meat ( 16%), not buying new clothes (15%) and finally not owning a personal car (11%). Conversely, 41% of Europeans say that giving up the car would be the most difficult sacrifice they would be asked to make and for 26% of them it would be to do without meat products. USA, hard to give up meat in China

For 38% of Americans parting with their private car would be heartbreaking (the answer comes first) while for 35% of Chinese, no longer eating meat is impossible.

However, giving up the plane is a consensus, the air sector is responsible for 2.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, since 38% of Americans and 43% of Chinese say they can give up this mode of transport to travel. . Then comes the renunciation of online videos, which convinces 22% of Americans, but only 13% of Chinese knowing that currently its climate impact is still poorly known but evaluated at more than 300 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year, i.e. at less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Above all, the digital sector is experiencing unprecedented growth. Only 14% of Americans and 15% of Chinese say switching to a vegetarian diet would be an easy climate action for them, yet meat and livestock-induced deforestation are responsible for at least 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Finally, not owning a personal car is an option for only 8% of Americans and 15% of Chinese. The transport sector accounts for more than a quarter (28%) of global greenhouse gas emissions, with a significant share attributable to the automobile.

“Around the world, people are aware that their behavior can make a difference,” says EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle. “Our role is to accelerate the green transition by financing clean energy, sustainable mobility solutions and innovations that allow everyone to change their habits to deal with climate change. »

Renunciation, a complex question

It is not in the habits of GoodPlanet Mag' to comment on polls: the latter are snapshots of opinion at a given moment, the methodology of which suffers from many limitations. In particular, opinion polls are based on declarations and not on facts. In addition, the wording of the questions can guide the narrow answers offered to respondents.

However, the EIB survey caught our attention because it directly addresses the issue of lifestyle changes induced by the ecological transition under the prism of renunciation, a theme that we regularly address via articles or in certain interviews. Indeed, in order to reduce the carbon footprint of the inhabitants of the most emitting countries, the richest in the world, rethinking consumption and lifestyle will be a necessity. Decarbonizing the economy involves profound changes in habits acquired over decades with the generalization of the use of cheap energies. Oil, gas, coal and electricity are omnipresent in everyday life, contributing to a comfort unprecedented in human history. However, the trap of comfort is that it appears as a superfluous luxury as long as one does not benefit from it, then quickly becomes essential once one is accustomed to it.

The fight against global warming will be done through individual actions; it will also succeed thanks to collective choices and ecological policies. The two approaches complement and feed each other: individual changes orient markets and public policies, while common frameworks support small gestures, give them scope and encourage their generalization. For example, getting around by bike rather than by car makes sense, but will be made easier if the organization of cities makes it easier to get around by bike, which – this may take time – launches a virtuous dynamic. But, the choice of the bicycle will perhaps be more obvious for an urbanite living in a dense city than for people living on the outskirts or in the countryside for whom longer journeys are required to get to work, do their shopping or visit. relatives. The questions of individual and collective choices are therefore understood in specific contexts and constraints, specific to each one. These subjects deserve debate, it is moreover this aspect that led the government to set up the Citizen's Convention for the Climate in order to ask 150 citizens drawn by lot to reach a consensus on the measures to be adopted. to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030.

Distributing efforts while creating social acceptability so that ecology is not seen as punitive is one of the difficulties in implementing environmental measures when there is nevertheless broad agreement on ecological crises. Ecology becomes punitive as soon as decisions seem to imply a restriction of freedom and without offering beneficial counterparts or alternatives. This type of survey, despite only 5 areas of renunciation proposed, therefore makes it possible to glimpse the reluctance or, on the contrary, the areas on which to work on the change to accompany it.

It is interesting to note that there is a consensus on flying less, however taking the plane remains the practice of a minority of the population, while questioning the individual car is more complicated, since it is a central element of the life of many people including the French.

And you, what would you be willing to give up to fight climate change? Let us know in the comments.

Julien Leprovost

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