Public Perception of Climate Change and Their Support of Climate Policy in China: Based on Global Surveys and in Comparison with USA
Received date: 2011-12-05
Request revised date: 2012-06-18
Online published: 2012-12-20
Copyright
Public opinion on climate change influences greenhouse gas emission of individuals and households and their support of climate policy. Based on five global surveys (Pew Global Attitudes Project Survey 2006, BBC World Service 2007, World Public Opinion 2009, BBC World Service and GlobeScan 2009, and World Bank 2009), this article compared public opinion on climate change and support for climate policy between China and USA. Surveys showed that about four-fifth of Chinese respondents heard about climate change and believed that human activity was a significant cause of climate change, whereas more American respondents heard about climate change and less believed that human activity was a significant cause of climate change. About two-thirds of Chinese respondents thought that climate change has already affected our life, whereas only one-third of American respondents held this view. If no actions are taken to mitigate climate change, more than four-fifths of Chinese respondents believed that future climate change will have significant, negative influences on the likelihood of natural disasters, rainfall and available water resources and the types of food, whereas American respondents had a more positive perception. Chinese respondents had greater worry about climate change than American ones, and 70% of Chinese respondents supported urgent actions to limit emission of greenhouse gases, including change in individual life style and behavior, acceptance of higher energy costs, preserving or expanding forested areas, gradual increase in fuel efficiency of automobiles and gradual reduce of government subsidies that favor private transportation, whereas less American respondents supported such actions. 90% of Chinese respondents thought that the central government should place a high priority on addressing climate change, whereas less than 50% of American respondents held this view, and more than two-thirds of both Chinese and American respondents took the view that both rich and poor countries should take measures to address climate change. Finally, future studies were discussed.
CHANG Gen-ying , HUANG Fu-peng , LI Man , LI Guo-jing . Public Perception of Climate Change and Their Support of Climate Policy in China: Based on Global Surveys and in Comparison with USA[J]. SCIENTIA GEOGRAPHICA SINICA, 2012 , 32(12) : 1481 -1487 . DOI: 10.13249/j.cnki.sgs.2012.012.1481
Table 1 Data sources表1 数据来源 |
调查机构 | 调查时间 | 调查国家数(个) | 总样本 /中国样本(个) | 中国样本情况 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
取样地 | 调查方式 | ||||
皮尤全球态度项目 | 2006年4~5月 | 15 | 16710 /2180 | 上海、北京、广州、新乡、晋中、泸州,城市人口 | 面对面 |
英国广播公司全球服务,全球扫描 | 2007年6~7月 | 21 | 22182 /1800 | 北京、成都、广州、杭州、上海、沈阳、武汉、西安、郑州城市人口 | 电话 |
全球调查网 | 2009年4~7月 | 19 | 18578 /1006 | 安徽、河北、黑龙江、湖北、江苏、陕西、上海、四川、云南,60%城市人口 | 电话 |
英国广播公司全球服务,全球扫描 | 2009年7~8月 | 23 | 24071 /1000 | 北京、成都、都江堰、汾阳、北流、阜阳、广州、杭州、满洲里、泉州、上海、衢州、沈阳、双城、武汉、西安、西宁、郑州城市人口 | 电话 |
世界银行 | 2009年9~10月 | 16 | 13518 /1010 | 安徽、河北、黑龙江、湖北、江苏、陕西、上海、四川、云南,60%城市人口 | 电话 |
Table 2 Public perception of influence of climate change on their own countries (%)表2 公众对气候变化对本国影响的认知(%) |
国家 | 没有影响 | 影响不大 | 有一些影响 | 有很大影响 | 不知道 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
食物种类 | 中国 | 1 | 8 | 41 | 49 | 1 |
美国 | 9 | 19 | 45 | 27 | 1 | |
动植物种类 | 中国 | 2 | 8 | 39 | 51 | 1 |
美国 | 9 | 18 | 42 | 30 | 1 | |
降水和可利用水资源 | 中国 | 3 | 7 | 36 | 52 | 4 |
美国 | 9 | 18 | 40 | 33 | 1 | |
食物和其他生活必需品 | 中国 | 3 | 13 | 43 | 34 | 7 |
美国 | 8 | 15 | 44 | 32 | 1 | |
发生自然灾害的可能性 | 中国 | 2 | 5 | 30 | 61 | 3 |
美国 | 9 | 17 | 39 | 34 | 1 | |
海岸线 | 中国 | 2 | 6 | 37 | 39 | 16 |
美国 | 9 | 17 | 39 | 34 | 2 | |
需要移民 | 中国 | 6 | 16 | 43 | 26 | 9 |
美国 | 14 | 28 | 40 | 16 | 2 |
数据来源:世界银行,2009。问题为:在不采取措施控制气候变化的情况下,您觉得气候变化对您国家的影响有多大。 |
Table 3 Public perception of seriousness of global warming/climate change problem (%)表3 公众对全球变暖/气候变化问题严重性的认知(%) |
国家 | 非常严重 | 有些严重 | 不太严重 | 不是问题 | 不知道 | 数据来源 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
中国 | 57 | 31 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 英国广播公司全球服务,2009 |
美国 | 45 | 29 | 13 | 12 | 1 | |
中国 | 28 | 48 | 21 | 1 | 2 | 世界银行,2009 |
美国 | 31 | 39 | 18 | 12 | 1 |
Table 4 Public opinion on government’s priority on addressing climate change (%)表4 公众认为应对气候变化在本国的优先程度(%) |
国家 | 平均值 | 中值 | 0~4 | 5 | 6~10 | 不知道 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
政府应对气候变化优先程度现状 | 中国 | 7.31 | 8 | 8 | 13 | 78 | 2 |
美国 | 3.84 | 4 | 61 | 17 | 21 | 1 | |
政府应该把应对气候变化置于何种优先程度 | 中国 | 8.86 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 94 | 2 |
美国 | 4.71 | 5 | 42 | 13 | 44 | 1 |
注:优先程度共分为11级,0级没有优先考虑,而10级是高度优先; 数据来源:全球调查网,2009。 |
Table 5 Public attitude to possible measures for controlling greenhouse gases (%)表5 公众对限制温室气体排放可能政策的态度(%) |
政策 | 国家 | 强烈支持 | 有些支持 | 有些反对 | 强烈反对 | 不知道 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
即使减少农业和建设用地,也要保护或扩大林业用地 | 中国 | 53 | 35 | 7 | 2 | 3 |
美国 | 35 | 40 | 16 | 9 | 1 | |
即使增加能源价格,也要控制煤电厂的建设速度 | 中国 | 30 | 37 | 18 | 5 | 9 |
美国 | 21 | 43 | 22 | 13 | 2 | |
即使提高汽车生产成本和公交车票价,也要逐步提高机动车的能效要求 | 中国 | 24 | 38 | 25 | 7 | 6 |
美国 | 27 | 44 | 18 | 10 | 1 | |
即使提高成本,也要减少政府对私人交通工具的补贴 | 中国 | 29 | 39 | 19 | 5 | 8 |
美国 | 17 | 45 | 25 | 10 | 2 |
数据来源:世界银行,2009。 |
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
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