Danes more interested in saving energy than adapting to climate change - study
By Michael de Laine, The Copenhagen Voice, 1 July 2009
While the authorities believe it is necessary for society and individuals to adapt to climate change, Danes are more interested in saving energy, a new report has found.
Whereas the authorities believe it is necessary for society and individuals to adapt to climate change, for instance by protecting housing from rising water levels and greater rainfall, Danes are more interested in saving energy, according to a new report from the National Environmental Research Institute (DMU), part of Aarhus University.
Researchers around the world are sure that the climate is changing - they believe the question is about how great the changes will be, especially for the individual country or region. They see a need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the changing climate. But Danes seem not to have understood the message, shows the report, 'Klimatilpasning og den sociale faktor (Climate adaptation and the social factor)'.
The report addressed the social aspects of climate change adaptation, asking how people perceive and relate to climate change adaptation; what risks are associated with climate change; and how the risks are balanced with other risks and concerns of everyday life and with long-range choices.
The study was based on a distinction between climate change mitigation and adaptation and further on an assumption in adaptation policies that some adaptation measures – for economic or practical reasons – will have to be carried out by private citizens and households.
Asked directly about whether they are doing enough to protect themselves against the climate changes that are coming, people questioned had little focus on how to adapt. One person answered in terms of energy consumption, indicating she would buy AAA-labeled kitchen hardware, while another person said, 'Some people believe that if we all become vegetarians then we'll have solved many problems'.
The distinction between climate change mitigation and adaptation is of little significance for lay people. Moreover, the prospect of climate change does provoke reflections on social values and the need for saving energy, but when it comes to protecting one's own life and property against future damaging effects of climate change the threat seems distant and other forms of home improvement seem more relevant.
The researchers conducting the survey were surprised by the lack of focus on how to adapt to climate change, especially when the people interviewed lived in areas with a high risk of flooding.
"It is surprising that they were not concerned about something close to their own lives, welfare and property," said Lars Kjerulf Petersen, who headed the project. "They were more aware of the connection with energy consumption."
Although the interviews were conducted last autumn, Petersen does not believe Danes have become more aware of the need for adaptation. The subject has not been in focus in public debates, and the results of the survey match closely other surveys conducted abroad, including in Norway.
The interviewees were also interested in small, concrete solutions that can be used immediately rather than greater changes to houses with a long-term aim of preventing climate-related damage.
Nevertheless, some adaptation measures are carried out by single households and local communities.
When households experience weather-related damages – of a kind that are expected to occur more frequently and with greater force as a result of climate changes – they take action to repair damage and prevent similar damage in the future; at least the kind of action that is easily carried out such as moving valuable goods from the basement or felling a tree. Such measures are, however, not necessarily understood in a context of climate change adaptation; they are rather specific reactions to acute problems.
To the extent that a more thorough precautionary adaptation effort is required, also by private citizens, it will have to be performed in interaction and collaboration with other actors, be it the council house caretakers, the farmers’ association or local and state authorities.
Click here to download the Danish-language report.
While the authorities believe it is necessary for society and individuals to adapt to climate change, Danes are more interested in saving energy, a new report has found.
Whereas the authorities believe it is necessary for society and individuals to adapt to climate change, for instance by protecting housing from rising water levels and greater rainfall, Danes are more interested in saving energy, according to a new report from the National Environmental Research Institute (DMU), part of Aarhus University.
Researchers around the world are sure that the climate is changing - they believe the question is about how great the changes will be, especially for the individual country or region. They see a need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the changing climate. But Danes seem not to have understood the message, shows the report, 'Klimatilpasning og den sociale faktor (Climate adaptation and the social factor)'.
The report addressed the social aspects of climate change adaptation, asking how people perceive and relate to climate change adaptation; what risks are associated with climate change; and how the risks are balanced with other risks and concerns of everyday life and with long-range choices.
The study was based on a distinction between climate change mitigation and adaptation and further on an assumption in adaptation policies that some adaptation measures – for economic or practical reasons – will have to be carried out by private citizens and households.
Asked directly about whether they are doing enough to protect themselves against the climate changes that are coming, people questioned had little focus on how to adapt. One person answered in terms of energy consumption, indicating she would buy AAA-labeled kitchen hardware, while another person said, 'Some people believe that if we all become vegetarians then we'll have solved many problems'.
The distinction between climate change mitigation and adaptation is of little significance for lay people. Moreover, the prospect of climate change does provoke reflections on social values and the need for saving energy, but when it comes to protecting one's own life and property against future damaging effects of climate change the threat seems distant and other forms of home improvement seem more relevant.
The researchers conducting the survey were surprised by the lack of focus on how to adapt to climate change, especially when the people interviewed lived in areas with a high risk of flooding.
"It is surprising that they were not concerned about something close to their own lives, welfare and property," said Lars Kjerulf Petersen, who headed the project. "They were more aware of the connection with energy consumption."
Although the interviews were conducted last autumn, Petersen does not believe Danes have become more aware of the need for adaptation. The subject has not been in focus in public debates, and the results of the survey match closely other surveys conducted abroad, including in Norway.
The interviewees were also interested in small, concrete solutions that can be used immediately rather than greater changes to houses with a long-term aim of preventing climate-related damage.
Nevertheless, some adaptation measures are carried out by single households and local communities.
When households experience weather-related damages – of a kind that are expected to occur more frequently and with greater force as a result of climate changes – they take action to repair damage and prevent similar damage in the future; at least the kind of action that is easily carried out such as moving valuable goods from the basement or felling a tree. Such measures are, however, not necessarily understood in a context of climate change adaptation; they are rather specific reactions to acute problems.
To the extent that a more thorough precautionary adaptation effort is required, also by private citizens, it will have to be performed in interaction and collaboration with other actors, be it the council house caretakers, the farmers’ association or local and state authorities.
Click here to download the Danish-language report.
Tags: climate_change, cphvoice, emissions, environment, greenhouse_gases, politics, private_citizens, research, science
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