Global consumers hold back on lifestyle changes to shrink carbon output, says Ipsos
Despite climate-anxiety on the rise, global consumers are holding back on making the lifestyle changes necessary to dial back their carbon emissions, according to a new study by one of the world’s largest market researchers.
Around 45 per cent polled are mulling making the switch to a low-carbon heating system for their homes, Ipsos found.
The study, which surveyed more than 25,000 consumers across more than 30 countries, found that dietary changes are the most popular – or well known – to shrink ones carbon footprint.
However, in recent years, the ‘overconsumption’ of products like fast fashion have increasingly fallen under the looking glass.
In the UK, nearly 75 per cent of consumers say that climate change has brought a personal responsibility to consumers, as the latest report by the UN’s climate body warns of crop failure in some regions by the 2030s.
However, less than a third of Brits would consider changing their heating system from oil or gas – despite government efforts to partially subsidise the cost of fitting heat pumps.
“There is still a sizeable gap between what people believe to be true and what is reality in terms of the actions that we as citizens can make to reduce our own carbon footprint,” Dr Pippa Bailey, head of UK climate change and sustainability practice at Ipsos said.
Although more sustainable practices have yet to win over consumers, the transition has caught the eye of investors.
Around one in eight investors in the UK have already bought a sustainable investment product. While just as many have not yet ventured into so-called green products – they are interested, according to a survey of investors by Forrester.