The vast majority of the Portuguese population (77%) feel that climate change has an impact on their everyday lives.
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This is a concern shared by both the younger (75%) and older generations (75%).
A great majority (85%) of Portuguese respondents favour stricter government measures similar to the ones implemented to combat the COVID 19 crisis that would impose changes on people’s behaviour (15 points above the EU average of 70%).
Meanwhile, only 5% of Portuguese people still believe that global warming is not due to human activities.
When asked about the source of energy their country should rely on to fight global warming, the majority of Portuguese people favour renewable energies (83%, 20 points above the EU average of 63%) to address the climate emergency. Portuguese people are overall less supportive of nuclear energy than other Europeans (3% vs. 12%).
Finally, Portuguese people are less likely to think that their country should rely on energy savings than other Europeans (9% vs. 17%). Saving energy is ranked equally with an increased role for natural gas (9%).
The vast majority of Portuguese people (77%) would support and to a greater extent than Europeans in general (69%) the introduction of a tax on products and services that contribute most to global warming.
Portuguese respondents are also in favour of a 5 year minimum warranty on any electric or electronic product (95%) and replacing short distance flights with fast, low emission trains (91%). They also favour softer measures like strengthening education and increasing youth awareness of sustainable consumption (96%).
These are some of the results from the first release of the 2021 2022 Climate Survey published on 27 October by the European Investment Bank (EIB). The EIB is the lending arm of the European Union and the world’s largest multilateral lender for climate action projects. ■
A very active and complex mid-May weather pattern is set to produce numerous areas of severe weather, heavy rain, high winds, and anomalous temperatures through this weekend.