News
05 Dec 2018, 13:44
Julian Wettengel

US citizens more optimistic about economic potential of climate action than Europeans

EIB / YouGov

US citizens are somewhat more optimistic than EU citizens about the economic benefits of measures to combat climate change, according to a survey by online pollster YouGov, commissioned by the European Investment Bank (EIB). 26 percent of US citizens believe climate action can have a positive effect on the economy compared to only 21 percent of Europeans. In China, a mere 11 percent see benefits. In Germany, 14 percent of respondents said climate action would have a positive impact on economic growth and the job market, while 35 percent expect it to be rather negative or very negative. The data is the second in a six-part EIB climate survey, to be released in 2018 and 2019. It also found that Europeans primarily expect financial effects from climate change, while the Chinese focus on health effects. In Germany, only 13 percent expect effects on jobs and work.

Find the press release in English here, a summary of results here and detailed results here.

For background, read the CLEW news item Germans are a little less worried about climate change than other Europeans – EIB survey and the factsheet Polls reveal citizens' support for Energiewende.

Graph by EIB saying US citizens more optimistic about economic potential of climate action than Europeans. Source: EIB.
All texts created by the Clean Energy Wire are available under a “Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0)” . They can be copied, shared and made publicly accessible by users so long as they give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.
« previous news next news »

Ask CLEW

Researching a story? Drop CLEW a line or give us a call for background material and contacts.

Get support

+49 30 62858 497

Journalism for the energy transition

Get our Newsletter
Join our Network
Find an interviewee