A new study by researchers at the University of Vermont has claimed that more people around the world rank environmental protection greater than economic growth when the two come into conflict.
The study, Global public opinion on tradeoffs between environmental protection and economic growth, which was published in the Ecological Economics journal, analysed survey data from 92 countries, and found that close to two thirds (58%) value environmental protection over economic growth, if and when the two goals are at odds.
Political discourse
“The political discourse is often very much focused around the goal of economic growth, but our results show that this is actually not people’s priority,” commented Jukka Kilgus, a master’s student studying natural resources at the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, and the study’s lead author.
“Instead, they often favour ecological and social well-being. And these are not just left-leaning college graduates in rich countries, but a diverse group of people with many different backgrounds across countries.”
Support for environmental protection is strongest in regions and countries such as Western Europe, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand, while in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, economic growth is considered more important.
In Western countries, typical demographic patterns are evident when it comes to environmental protection, with women, younger people, well-educated and more liberal-minded individuals prioritising the environment. However, non-Western countries demonstrate more diverse patterns, with higher environmental prioritisation occasionally found among older individuals, men, or lower-income groups.
‘The analysed demographic and socio-economic factors have fundamentally different effects on prioritisation within individual country samples,’ the researchers note.
Focus on ‘degrowth’
The findings also note ‘substantial support’ for shifting the focus away from economic growth to environmental protection (otherwise known as ‘degrowth’), advocating reduced resource use and prioritising well-being over profit.
‘While our results cannot be interpreted as direct public support for post-growth systems change, they indicate that diverse groups of people, distinct across countries, support placing less emphasis on economic growth and more on the environment, the researchers state. ‘Politicians and world leaders need to consider this when deciding on future political priorities.’ Read more here and here.
