Protecting the Environment is Very Important to Most Americans Who Believe in Climate Change According to Latest Cool Effect Survey – Three Quarters Feel They Can Personally Do Something to Help Save the Planet
Cool Effect™, the innovative online platform crowdfunding for the highest-quality carbon reducing projects around the globe, announced the findings of a nationwide third-party online survey conducted by Ipsos that evaluated consumer sentiment and reasons regarding preserving the health and vitality of our planet. The survey was conducted among individuals 18 and older who believe climate change is caused by humans.
Key findings of the survey include:
- Nearly all adults surveyed (98%) believe that protecting the environment is important, with seven-in-ten (69%) going so far as to indicate it’s very important to them.
- Three quarters believe that there is something they can do personally to fight climate change. Millennials (79%, 18-34), parents (81%), the more educated (81%) and married folks (79%) are especially optimistic.
- While this sense of personal ownership and empowerment is encouraging, surprisingly only 40 percent of respondents have taken action by supporting an organization that is fighting climate change or advocating for climate policy – and this jumps to nearly half among millennials (48%).
“We believe that everyone can be a part of the solution through simple and tangible action,” said Cool Effect COO Marisa de Belloy. “Cool Effect’s platform provides an easy and affordable way for people to do more to help the planet through crowdfunding for a variety of verifiable greenhouse gas reducing projects.”
The survey went on to explore people’s varying motivations for wanting to combat climate change. When asked to rank four potential motivators for preventing climate change from most to least important, the results came out as follows.
- Saving the earth for future generations of family takes top billing at 48 percent – and is seen to be especially important to men (51%), older adults (54%, 55+), parents (54%), and married adults (52%).
- Preventing the increased spread of disease (21%) and protecting places on earth like the Great Barrier Reef, rainforests and national parks (20%) are neck-and-neck, making up a secondary tier.
- Saving animals from extinction is the least important motivator, with 11 percent rating this as their top motivator for preventing climate change.
When asked to share some of their meaningful and personal reasons for wanting to save the planet, most people mention something related to the environment (67%). Clean air (17%, or 1 in 5), climate change/ drastic weather events (11%), protecting the environment/ planet (10%), fresh, clean water (8%), and wanting to save the planet because we live here (8%) are top of mind when thinking about the environment.
Just under half of those surveyed bring up humankind (46%) when asked why they want to save the planet, including 34 percent who specifically mention future generations/ family/ friends. Nature-inspired reasons for wanting to save the planet are brought up by nearly as many (44%), with wildlife animals (24%) among the most mentioned.
A third say that they want to save the planet for the sake of activities (33%) such as traveling/ exploring/ vacations (10%) and hiking/ walking/ running (8%).
Everyone has their own unique reason for wanting to prevent climate change and Cool Effect champions them all. The organization is kicking off its #TonOfReasons campaign to encourage and empower all who care about preserving the future of our planet to take action by visiting tonofreasons.org. Individuals can contribute to a project that verifiably reduces greenhouse gas emissions, learn about the incredible work each project is doing, and be inspired by other people’s ton of reasons to fight climate change. The full report finding can be viewed at http://bit.ly/CoolEffectSurveyFindings.