People around the world view water issues as the planet’s top environmental problem, according to a new multi-national public opinion survey.
The survey found that fresh water sustainability, management and conservation ranked higher than air pollution, depletion of natural resources, loss of habitat and climate change.
Across the 15 countries surveyed:
- 93% say water pollution is a very serious (72%) or somewhat serious (21%) problem.
- 91% believe that a shortage of fresh water is a very serious (71%) or somewhat serious (20%) problem.
Across the seven focus countries:
- Government is considered among the most responsible for ensuring clean water.
- 78% say "solving drinking water problems will require significant help from companies," indicating that partnerships are an important component to resolving the world’s fresh water sustainability challenges.
- 76% say "I need more information to be able to do more to protect water."
While people around the world agree on the importance of the issue, some key differences between the countries surveyed support the idea that solutions will have to be carefully tailored to local conditions:
- Across the seven countries surveyed, people in Mexico are the most concerned about "lack of water for agriculture" (75% are very concerned). People in India are most concerned about "the high cost of water" (60%) compared to other countries.
- People in Mexico express the most urgency about the severity of the pollution and water scarcity issues they face, but also the most optimism about their ability to solve the problems.
- In all countries, more than half of those surveyed agree that government is responsible for ensuring clean water. When asked whether individual citizens are responsible, however, responses vary widely by country, from a high of 76% in Mexico to a low of 30% in China.
"This research shows that across the globe, concerns about water are reaching a critical level of public consciousness," said J. Carl Ganter, Circle of Blue co-founder and director. "People think water is the most important environmental concern, in many cases more pressing than climate change. It’s the axis issue that intersects the world’s greatest challenges, from health, poverty and security to climate, immigration and environment, even financial and commodities markets."
More than five million people die each year due to a lack of safe drinking water, and the United Nations estimates that 5.5 billion people will lack adequate access to fresh water in the next 20 years. Water scarcity and threats to water quality have emerged as serious threats to people and businesses around the world.
The poll surveyed 1,000 people in each of 15 countries, and probed 500
in each of the following countries on specific questions: Canada,
China, India, Mexico, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The results were released today in Stockholm as part of World Water
Week. The independent survey was commissioned by Circle of Blue, the
Michigan-based international network of journalists, scientists and
communicators focused on global water issues. Molson Coors Brewing
Company (NYSE: TAP) supported the research, which was conducted by
GlobeScan, a global survey research firm.
Full survey results are available at the link below.
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