Strong global support for climate action: poll

I / Washington December 04, 2009, 16:46 IST

Strong majorities around the world back action to fight climate change, with enthusiasm especially strong in developing nations including India, a World Bank survey said today.

The 15-nation survey, released four days before a high-stakes climate summit opens in Copenhagen, found widespread worries that global warming will eventually harm people, although also some cynicism about the science.

Eighty-eight per cent of people surveyed said their country should take action against climate change, with the figure soaring to nearly 100 per cent in growing Asian economies China, Vietnam and Bangladesh, the poll said.

The United States, the sole industrial power to shun the current Kyoto Protocol requiring cuts in carbon emissions, saw 82 per cent approving of action in the future, it said.

"There was an extraordinary level of support across high-, middle- and low-income countries for responding to an agreement at Copenhagen by committing to emissions cuts," the survey said.

The only country where support for climate action slipped below 80 per cent was Russia, where 58 per cent said their country should take steps against climate change.

Russians were also the most skeptical about science on climate change, with only 23 per cent saying scientists have found out enough to make the problem urgent.

In India, 48 per cent saw a scientific consensus on climate change and an unusually large 26 per cent said they did not know or did not respond.