November 11th, 2022, Kineree Shah
With the world fighting to limit global warming amid a global energy crisis, the Russia-Ukraine war, and rising inflation, Egypt is hosting United Nation’s annual global climate summit known as COP27. Nearly a hundred heads of state are expected to attend the conference to address climate change issues. While world leaders debate who should bear the brunt of the cost of global warming, we asked the public if certain industries are doing enough to minimize their carbon footprint.
A fifth of consumers say hospitals or healthcare services are ‘doing enough’ to reduce their environmental impact, a percentage point less than last year, making this the sector perceived to be the best performing. But according to year-over-year trended data from a global YouGov poll that was conducted in 17 markets in 2021 and 18 in 2022 hotels, online retailers and food manufacturers have seen the highest increase among consumers who say they are ‘not doing enough’ in comparison to 2021. More than two in five consumers say airlines are ‘not doing enough’ to minimize environmental impact – the highest among all sectors.
Ahead of COP27, it looks like insurance and financial service providers are scaling up their commitments as part of Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) and Race to Zero coalitions. Several insurers are refusing to cover coal projects, particularly in the reinsurance sector. Munich Re, the world’s biggest reinsurer, has announced it will stop insuring oil and gas projects, joining Swiss Re, Hannover Re, and Allianz. Axis Capital says it will not underwrite energy and mining projects that don’t have the backing of local indigenous communities.
When it comes to consumer opinion, a third say insurance and financial service providers are not doing enough to reduce environmental impact, up by three percentage points since 2021. And fewer global consumers say they are ‘doing a fair amount but could do more’ (28% in 2021 vs. 24% in 2022).
According to the survey, in all but three markets (UAE, India, and Singapore), the proportion of consumers who believe that financial service providers are doing enough has decreased since last year. Consumers in the UAE are substantially more inclined than the worldwide average to say that financial service providers are acting responsibly when it comes to the environment, the highest of all the markets surveyed. But there has also been also rise in the percentage of customers who say they are "not doing enough" in 2022 (20% in 2021 vs. 24% in 2022).
One of the biggest shifts in consumer attitude is seen in Italy. Since last year, the percentage of Italians who say financial service providers are not doing enough has gone from 30% (‘21) to 41% (‘22). As for those who say they are doing a fair amount but need to do more, the share has gone down by 10 percentage points.
In the US, sentiment for financial service providers doing enough to reduce their carbon footprint has remained unchanged (15% in 2021 and 2022) but the percentage of people who believe financial service providers are not doing enough increased from 25% in 2021 to 29% in 2022.
Consumer opinion in Britain that financial service providers are “not doing enough” has dropped by two percentage points (35% in 2021 and 33% in 2022). But the proportion of Britons who say financial service providers are doing enough has decreased over the previous year (7% in 2021 vs. 6% in 2022).
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2022 Methodology: YouGov RealTime Omnibus provides quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The latest data is based on the interviews of adults aged 18 and over in 18 markets with sample sizes varying between 515 and 2,082 for each market. All interviews were conducted online in July 2022. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov RealTime Omnibus.
2021 Methodology: YouGov RealTime Omnibus provides quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on the interviews of adults aged 18 and over in 17 markets with sample sizes varying between 585 to 2,018 for each market. All interviews were conducted online in July 2021. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov RealTime Omnibus.