As a starting point of our study, we asked people to name their top concern from a list of environmental challenges.
Globally, climate change remains the number one concern with 16.9% of respondents citing this, an increase of 0.5% compared to 2019.
The second biggest concern is still plastic waste, and this too saw an increase from 14.0% to 14.8%. It remains top of mind for many because plastic is an issue that is highly visible; people are aware of their contribution and the physical evidence of waste and damage caused by it.
Concerns about issues related to water were lower this year, but we saw an increase in concern about both air pollution and deforestation. The survey was done in May-June when there was a lot of media attention around our ‘blue skies’ as a result of lockdown. The levels of air pollution in our cities, the devastating bush fires in Australia, and deforestation in the Amazon were all brought more sharply into focus.
However, this global picture does not show the regional differences of which there are many. For example, in Latin America, both water pollution and water shortage were the first and second concerns respectively. Whereas in Asia, the top concerns were plastic waste and food safety, with a significant 42.9% of people selecting one or the other.
The influencers
For this year’s study we asked a new question, ‘Who are the people most likely to impact your behaviour regarding the environment?’. Whilst we see evidence of the media and world events driving the focus of attention, the real influences on our behaviour lie in conversations closer to home.
Thirty-eight per cent of people feel that those whose opinions are important to them are encouraging them to be greener. The main influencers on people’s behaviour are their children followed by friends and partners. For the under-35s, partners are the main influencer followed by friends and parents, showing that generational influence can go in both directions.
The impact of COVID-19 on our environmental efforts
We have seen some immediate impact on our efforts to be environmentally friendly due to COVID-19. The change in shopping experience has meant consumers are less likely to check what is on product labels for calories, sugar and environmental factors, such as palm oil and fair trade.
Western Europeans look at the most elements when selecting food, checking 3.8 elements, down from 4.2 last year. However, there were two areas where people were more engaged; labels showing quality assurances and recyclable packaging, with an increase of +3% and +4% respectively.
This reduction in product needs is likely to be short term and the need to protect our environment is so critical it cannot be ignored. This has been shown in a few ways.
People are now personally affected by environmental problems, with 46% of global respondents agreeing with this statement, rising to two out of three in Asia.
When pollution or water shortages are directly damaging your health or affecting your community, then solving them will become increasingly important.
The pace of change amongst some of the FMCG giants has continued, with big announcements from Unilever around developing carbon labelling, and other brands such as L’Oreal and Evian announcing plans to be carbon neutral.
