Asean people hail renewables as climate risks grow: Survey

SINGAPORE – The desire of people in ASEAN to shift away from polluting fossil fuels and embrace renewable energy to tackle climate change as floods, loss of biodiversity and sea-level rise loom as the top three climate threats in the region, a survey of public attitudes released on Thursday (Sept 16) shows.

Overall, 70 per cent of respondents said climate change is a serious and immediate threat, reflecting the region’s vulnerability to the growing impacts of stronger storms, floods, droughts and rising sea levels.

The survey was conducted online from June 11 to Aug 2 and involved 610 respondents from all 10 ASEAN member states. They came from a range of backgrounds, including academia and governments, business, students, civil society and media.

A total of 79 per cent said they felt the urgency of cutting reliance on coal, the single largest source of planet-warming carbon dioxide (CO2). In Indonesia and Singapore, 85.9 per cent and 85.2 per cent held this view respectively.

The majority of Singaporean, Vietnamese and Indonesian respondents also believe that the reduction of dependence on fossil fuels will yield short-term pain but long-term gains.

Sources: Agencies