Would you pay to fight climate change? 69% of world population would be willing to contribute 1% of their personal income to combat global warming, study claims

Science
By William

From car-free living to installing renewable energy, many of us are trying to do our part to reduce our carbon footprint.

But how far would you be willing to go to combat global warming?

According to a new study, the majority of the world’s population would be willing to make a significant financial contribution to the fight against climate change.

A global survey of 130,000 people found that 69 percent of the world would donate one percent of their personal income to this cause.

However, this was not the case in Britain, where only 47.6 percent of Britons said they were willing to contribute.

From car-free living to installing renewable energy, many of us are trying to do our part to reduce our carbon footprint. But how far would you be willing to go to combat global warming? (stock image)

A global survey of 130,000 people found that 69 percent of the world would donate one percent of their personal income to this cause

A global survey of 130,000 people found that 69 percent of the world would donate one percent of their personal income to this cause

In the study, researchers from the University of Bonn, the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE in Frankfurt and the University of Copenhagen interviewed subjects from 125 countries.

In each country, the sample size was 1,000 representative individuals, which the authors believe is sufficiently large to draw country-level conclusions.

They found that in all but eleven countries, the majority of people would be willing to pay one percent of their income to fight climate change.

The level of willingness ranged from over 90 percent in some countries, such as Myanmar and Uzbekistan, to as high as 30 percent in Egypt.

In general, researchers found that the richer a country is, the less willing its citizens will be to contribute to the fight against climate change.

The countries most willing to contribute to curbing global warming

  1. Myanmar – 92.8%
  2. Uzbekistan – 91.6%
  3. Mongolia – 89.6%
  4. Cambodia – 87.4%
  5. Mali – 85.9%
  6. Paraguay – 85.8%
  7. Laos – 85.3%
  8. Mauritius – 85.1%
  9. Venezuela – 85.0%
  10. Bolivia – 84.6%

The countries least willing to contribute to curbing global warming

  1. Egypt – 30.5%
  2. Israel – 37.3%
  3. Lithuania – 40.6%
  4. Russia – 41.0%
  5. Kazakhstan – 45.0%
  6. New Zealand – 46.4%
  7. Pakistan – 47.4%
  8. United Kingdom – 47.6%
  9. United States – 48.1%
  10. Canada – 48.7%

In general, researchers found that the richer a country is, the less willing its citizens will be to contribute to the fight against climate change

In general, researchers found that the richer a country is, the less willing its citizens will be to contribute to the fight against climate change

Professor Teodora Boneva, a research fellow at the University of Bonn, told MailOnline that this trend could be caused by two factors.

“First, richer countries are still heavily dependent on fossil fuels,” she said.

‘The adjustment costs can therefore be perceived as relatively high and the required lifestyle changes as too drastic.’

Britain, for example, which has the eighth lowest willingness to contribute at 47.6 percent, still relies on fossil fuels for more than three-quarters of its energy needs.

In the US, where only 48.1 percent of people would be willing to contribute, fossil fuels provide 80 percent of the energy mix and contribute about eight percent to GDP.

Richer countries such as Britain (pictured) may be affected by climate change, but have the means to limit its impact through spending. The researchers suggest that this makes people less willing to personally pay to help

Richer countries such as Britain (pictured) may be affected by climate change, but have the means to limit its impact through spending. The researchers suggest that this makes people less willing to personally pay to help

Professor Boneva also suggests that richer countries may be better prepared for the impacts of climate change.

She said: ‘A country’s GDP per capita reflects its economic capacity to cope with climate change.

“The most direct and immediate impacts are likely to be concentrated in more vulnerable countries, which have fewer resources to mitigate the negative impacts of the climate crisis.”

The survey also found that colder countries were less willing to contribute.

This could indicate that the willingness to pay to combat climate change is influenced by the extent to which the consequences occur immediately.

However, Professor Boneva also emphasizes that even in the richest countries, support for climate action remains extremely high.

The survey found that 86 percent of people around the world endorsed “pro-climate social norms” and believed that people in their countries should try to combat global warming.

Furthermore, they found that people’s willingness to contribute financially to the fight against climate change was consistently underestimated.

The researchers say this could actually lead to less willingness to make changes to tackle global warming.

This is because people are often “conditional cooperators,” meaning they are willing to help, but only if they believe others will help too.

Professor Boneva added: ‘The majority believe they are in the minority.

‘People who systematically underestimate public support for climate action are often less willing to take action themselves.’

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