Singapore (VNA) – Floods, loss of biodiversityand sea level rise are the top three perceived climate change impacts in Southeast Asia,according to a climate survey on regional people's attitudes and perceptionsconducted by the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute (ISEAS).
According to the Southeast Asia Climate Outlook Survey,conducted online from June 11 to August 2, 2021, the issues are most concernedby people in Laos, Malaysia and Thailand.
Compared to 2020, 13 percent more Indonesia respondents and10 percent more Malaysia respondents are concerned about tropical storms. InIndonesia, the Philippines and Singapore, loss of biodiversity is no longerperceived as a top impact and was replaced with floods or rainfall-inducedlandslides.
The vast majority of respondents recognised the importance ofclimate change and considered it as a serious and immediate threat.
In the absence of global climate leadership over the lastfew years, 30.7 percent of ASEAN respondents believe that the EU hasdemonstrated strongest leadership. Regarding countries that should play a moreproactive role in sharing their climate expertise, most respondents chose theEU, Japan and the US.
The report pointed out that the level of confidence inASEAN renewable energy transition is low. On a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being notconfident and 10 being extremely confident, ASEAN respondents only ranked theirconfidence at 4.6 for ASEAN to achieve its 23 percent target share of renewableenergy by 2025. Conversely, they ranked their confidence at 6.6 for economiccompetitiveness resulting from better and innovative climate change policies.
A majority of respondents disagree (45.6 percent) or areunsure (38.7 percent) that their governments' COVID-19 stimulus spendingcontributed to a green recovery.
Choi Shing Kwok, Director and CEO of ISEAS – Yusof IshakInstitute, said that the results showed that Southeast Asians believed that moreshould be done to address climate change issues, with a majority viewingclimate change to be as much of a crisis as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Survey respondents also believed that better and moreinnovative climate change policies can result in higher economiccompetitiveness, he said, adding that this will translate into strong support for governments andprivate companies pursuing climate change initiatives in the region./.
According to the Southeast Asia Climate Outlook Survey,conducted online from June 11 to August 2, 2021, the issues are most concernedby people in Laos, Malaysia and Thailand.
Compared to 2020, 13 percent more Indonesia respondents and10 percent more Malaysia respondents are concerned about tropical storms. InIndonesia, the Philippines and Singapore, loss of biodiversity is no longerperceived as a top impact and was replaced with floods or rainfall-inducedlandslides.
The vast majority of respondents recognised the importance ofclimate change and considered it as a serious and immediate threat.
In the absence of global climate leadership over the lastfew years, 30.7 percent of ASEAN respondents believe that the EU hasdemonstrated strongest leadership. Regarding countries that should play a moreproactive role in sharing their climate expertise, most respondents chose theEU, Japan and the US.
The report pointed out that the level of confidence inASEAN renewable energy transition is low. On a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being notconfident and 10 being extremely confident, ASEAN respondents only ranked theirconfidence at 4.6 for ASEAN to achieve its 23 percent target share of renewableenergy by 2025. Conversely, they ranked their confidence at 6.6 for economiccompetitiveness resulting from better and innovative climate change policies.
A majority of respondents disagree (45.6 percent) or areunsure (38.7 percent) that their governments' COVID-19 stimulus spendingcontributed to a green recovery.
Choi Shing Kwok, Director and CEO of ISEAS – Yusof IshakInstitute, said that the results showed that Southeast Asians believed that moreshould be done to address climate change issues, with a majority viewingclimate change to be as much of a crisis as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Survey respondents also believed that better and moreinnovative climate change policies can result in higher economiccompetitiveness, he said, adding that this will translate into strong support for governments andprivate companies pursuing climate change initiatives in the region./.
VNA
