Over 40 percent of Romanians think the government has the capacity, will and abilities to tackle climate change

People across the globe see national governments as primarily responsible for tackling climate change (54 percent), followed by the UN (40 percent), according to the results of a new Vodafone Institute survey conducted by Kantar, which included 17,000 people from 17 countries, including Romania. And digitalisation is considered by most to be a solution for achieving climate goals, as mentioned by almost 65 percent of those interviewed, a similar rate registered among Romanian citizens.

Businesses and individuals are considered equally responsible to combat climate change, along with national governments, at 39 percent, followed by supranational bodies like the European or African Union (33 percent) and NGOs (30 percent) (multiple choice question).

More than half of those surveyed agree that their government has the will (58 percent), the skills (58 percent) and the capacity (59 percent) to tackle climate change.  In most countries the approval rates in all three areas are aligned, as well as in Romania, where over 40 percent agree with this. A discrepancy between will and capacity to tackle climate change can be found in Brazil and the US: Brazilian citizens say their government has more capacity (60 percent), but less will (45 percent) so does the US with 65 percent capacity, but only 54 percent will. A divide occurs across European countries: for example only 49 percent of the French say their government has the will even though more believe in their capacity (59 percent), while Swedes see a higher will (61 percent), but less capacity (50 percent) of their government. 

On average, 80 percent think strong governmental regulations and measures are inevitable in mitigating climate change, a similar percentage among Romanians. High approval rates can be found in China (93 percent), India (93 percent) and Kenya (91 percent). While the US only comes to 62 percent, and the lowest European rate can be found in Slovenia (70 percent), followed by Germany and Spain (both 71 percent). Across all countries surveyed, the top three areas respondents felt governmental measures should focus on are stricter industry regulations (34 percent), actions for green agriculture (32 percent) and protect biodiversity (32 percent).

Almost 85 percent of all respondents say government should be investing more in tackling climate change, with Kenya (96 percent) and Brazil (94 percent) at the top and USA (67 percent) and Sweden (61 percent) at the bottom of the list. In general, among all countries a shared cost responsibility of state, economy and citizens is favoured by 45 percent. In Romania, 38 percent of citizens believe that these costs should be shared between the three entities, while 34 percent think that they should be covered by the state.

Asked about the individual will to pay more for sustainable alternatives countries, 86 percent of Kenyans and 88 percent of Indians agree, while only 61 percent of Germans and 57 percent of US-Americans agree to that extent. Romania is positioned in the middle, with over 75 percent of Romanians who would agree to pay for sustainable alternatives

When it comes to the role of digitalisation, 64 percent are confident that it is a key lever in mitigating climate change. In India every third respondent and in Egypt and Kenya every fourth respondent go as far as to say digitalisation to be the biggest lever. In European countries there is high confidence across most countries that digitalisation is one lever to combat climate change. Highest rates in Italy (70 percent), Romania (64 percent) and Spain (62 percent).