72% of G20 citizens now support criminalising environmental damage
More than half of those surveyed are ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ worried about the state of nature and the environment and believe Earth is approaching climate tipping point.
The study, conducted by IpsosUK on behalf of Earth4All and Global Commons Alliance, the research follows a number of major legislative changes in several countries, which have taken steps towards introducing ecocide laws.
These include Belgium, which now recognises environmental damage as a federal crime, whie Chile and France have also introduced comparable rules. Bills proposed in Brazil, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru and Scotland are now under consideration in their respective parliaments.
18 G20 countries were polled, and the results show a marked concern among populations about the mounting climate crisis. 59% of respondents said they were either ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ worried about the condition of the plant and its atmosphere, while 69% believe climate and nature tipping points were approaching as a result of human activity.
‘The majority support (72%) for criminalising actions which allow serious damage to the climate surprised us,’ said Owen Gaffney, co-lead of the Earth4All initiative. ‘The majority of people want to protect the global commons; 71% believe the world needs to take action immediately. Our survey demonstrates that people across the world’s largest economies are acutely aware of the urgent need to safeguard our planet for future generations.’
The responses also revealed gender and regional disparities, with women exhibiting more concern than men (62% to 56%) and a greater percentage advocating for ‘major action’ to be taken to address environmental issues witjin the next decade (74% to 68%). Elsewhere, people living in emerging economies were more likely to feel exposed to climate change than those in Europe and the United States, and those that perceived themselves to be at risk also showed the highest level of concern.
‘We’re seeing significant policy shifts in favour of ecocide legislation at the domestic, regional, and international levels,’ said Jojo Mehta, Co-founder and CEO of Stop Ecocide International. ‘Most notably, at the start of this year, the European Union included ‘qualified offences’ in its newly revised Environmental Crime Directive that can encompass ‘conduct comparable to ecocide.’ This means EU member states now have two years to bring these rules into national law – a huge moment felt across the globe.’
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Image: Nik Shuliahin