April 2011

“Concerns” over the Environment in the Light of Awareness of Burdens and Actions

From the ISSP Survey on “Environment”

Miki Masaki

The NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute is a member of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP). The theme of the 2010 ISSP survey was “Environment,” which aims to explore people’s attitudes towards environmental issues and actions for the environment. As all the results of each country will not be compiled until 2013, in this article the author reports the result of the survey conducted in Japan exclusively.

Those surveyed were asked to indicate how concerned they are about environmental issues, using a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the weakest level of concern. As a result, two out of tree respondents ticked 5 (highest level of concern) or 4 (second highest).

When asked to choose one option regarding “the most important environmental issue in Japan” and “problem that affects you and your family the most” using the same 9 options for both questions, the highest percentages of respondents chose “climate change” for both.

As to a question on what they care on daily basis, with 10 options including “turning off a light and gas frequently” and “reducing waste” (multiple answers allowed), many respondents (nearly 70% for each) ticked “turning off a light and gas frequently,” “using refills,” “bringing their own shopping bags,” and “saving water.” All of them are habits that easily prevent wasteful consumption.

Meanwhile, when asked whether they are willing to shoulder a burden in order to protect the environment, namely “to pay much higher prices,” “to pay much higher taxes,” and “to accept cuts in your standard of living,” those who are “very willing” accounted for 1 to 2% for each question, and no more than 20% to 40% were either “very willing” or “fairly willing.”

Regarding the relation between environmental protection and individuals, 60% agree to “There is no point in doing what I can for the environment unless others do the same.” The survey indicates that respondents feel the limit of individual efforts.

As to governmental approaches to protect the environment, the majority of respondents think government should “pass laws to make ordinary people protect the environment” rather than “let ordinary people decide for themselves how to protect the environment.” When asked about the best way of getting business/industry and people to protect the environment, many chose “providing more information and education” or “tax benefits” rather than “heavy fines.”

The NHK Monthly Report on Broadcast Research