Britain Thinks Economy Is More Important Than Environment

Ipsos Mori are one of the leading UK pollsters, and have been tracking what our residents think are the most important issues facing the country. The latest figures are interesting reading regarding the countries priorities of economy and environment. From 2008 onwards it's clear that Britain thinks the economy is more important than the environment. The steep rise in concerns over the economy are sure to be a reaction to the global economic downturn.

In fact the trend from 1997 has continually shown economy to be a more important issue, more recently the gap has widened in people's thinking.

There is also a comparison of how environmental concern differs between countries of varying GDP. This is a bit surprising for me. I always thought developed countries would have more knowledge of the environment, and be more concerned. In fact the opposite is true, with poorer countries more concerned about the environment. The article suggests this may be down to "levels of environmental degradation in their areas, and their recent experience of the by-products of rapid growth."

Farmers in poorer countries whose crops have failed due to climate change, or had to sell cattle through lack of water are loosing their livelihood. These are the people at the front line of climate change.

Climate change isn't really making a big impact to the UK at the moment. Any small changes in temperature are just not a big concern if you have lost your job and need to feed the family. It seems the country is only going to consider it an important issue when it's directly affecting us.

Published - Sat 24th Oct 2009 13:48:17