NOVEMBER 29, 2023
People pass by part of a road which was washed away at the Kilometro 42 community, near Acapulco, Guerrero State, Mexico, after the passage of Hurricane Otis, on October 25, 2023. Nearly four in 10 people believe that they will be displaced in the next 25 years because of the effects of climate change according to a new study by Ipsos. – Getty Images
Billions of people expect to be displaced within the next 25 years because of severe impacts from climate change, according to a new study.
Scientists and politicians alike continue to raise the alarm about the concerning impacts of global warming as more research reveals that climate change increases the severity of some natural disasters, ranging from floods and wildfires to hurricanes and drought.
Some areas of the world are more at risk of suffering from the warming climate than others, and a study by Ipsos revealed that nearly four in 10 people believe they will lose their homes from impacts associated with the changing climate.
The Ipsos study was published on Monday, just days before the COP28 United Nations Climate Change Conference. The study, which surveyed 24,220 adults across 31 countries from September 22 to October 6, provides a look into how people across the globe feel about climate change.
Most survey takers were between the ages of 16 and 74. Newsweek reached out to Ipsos via email for comment.
Thirty-eight percent of survey takers said that it’s likely they’ll be displaced in the next 25 years from the impacts of climate change, although the number leaps for areas like Turkey, Brazil and India, where 68 percent, 61 percent and 57 percent of those polltakers respectively believe they’ll lose their homes.
Results from each of the 31 countries equate to more than 2 billion people fearing they’ll be displaced if the survey is representative of the global population.
The United States ranked below average for the concerns about displacement, with 35 percent of Americans believing they’d lose their homes because of climate change. Of the 31 countries surveyed, residents in the Netherlands were the least concerned about losing their homes, with 19 percent of respondents believing they’d be displaced in the next 25 years.
“As the world’s leaders gather at COP, this latest Ipsos research reveals a stark reality—with the majority of people not only witnessing the severe impacts of climate change but bracing for its escalation,” Ipsos Chief Sustainability Officer Lauren Demar said in a statement. “A staggering seven in 10 expect climate change will profoundly affect their local areas within the next decade.”
Of those surveyed, 57 percent claimed to have already witnessed “a severe impact of climate change where they live,” with much higher numbers reporting severe impacts in areas like Mexico, Brazil and Turkey. This year, Brazil battled unprecedented drought, Mexico was hit by several devastating hurricanes—one of which intensified in record time—and Turkey was hit by a horrific earthquake that killed thousands.
Nearly 60 percent of survey takers felt that businesses in their countries weren’t doing enough to combat climate change, with similar numbers reporting they felt their governments weren’t providing enough information about how to combat climate change.
“Our research underscores a critical disconnect,” Demar said. “There is a pervasive sentiment that both governments and businesses are not matching the public’s concerns with equivalent levels of action and transparency.”
Courtesy: Newsweek
