Question pits the environment against economic growth

question pits the environment against
economic growth as an either/or dilemma.
Rarely do surveys allow respondents to
choose an alternative answer, that environ-
mental protection can generate economic
growth and create jobs (for example, in
new energy system development, tourism,
and manufacturing).
Attitudes toward
Environmental Policies
In 1995, a large majority (62 percent)
worldwide said they “would agree to an
increase in taxes if the extra money were
used to prevent environmental damage,”
while 33 percent said they would oppose
them. 26 In 2000, there was widespread
global support for stronger environmen-
tal protection laws and regulations, with
69 percent saying that, at the time of the
survey, their national laws and regula-
tions did not go at all far enough. 27 The
1992 Health of the Planet survey found
that a very large majority (78 percent)
favored the idea of their own national
government “contributing money to an
international agency to work on solving
global environmental problems.” Attitudes
toward international agreements in this
survey, however, were less favorable. In
1992, 47 percent worldwide agreed that
“our nation’s environmental problems can
be solved without any international agree-
ments,” with respondents from low-income
countries more likely to strongly agree (23
percent) than individuals from middle-
income (17 percent) or high-income (12
percent) countries. 28 In 2001, however, 79
percent of respondents from the G8 coun-
tries said that international negotiations
and progress on climate change was either
“not good enough” (39 percent) or “not
acceptable” (40 percent) and needed faster
action. Surprisingly, this latter 40 percent
supported giving the United Nations “the
power to impose legally-binding actions
on national governments to protect the
Earth’s climate.” 29
Environmental Behavior
Material consumption is one of the pri-
mary means by which environmental val-
ues and attitudes get translated into behav-
ior. (For attitudes toward consumption per
se, see the section on affluence, poverty,
and consumerism below.)
In 2002, Environics International (Globe-
Scan) found that 36 percent of respondents
Children play in a polluted creek near Calcutta, India. Global public opinion
holds that environmental problems such as water pollution are very serious
problems—but such attitudes have not always translated into action.
© QILAI SHEN—PANOS

NOVEMBER 2005 ENVIRONMENT 27
Figure 2. Human-nature relationship
Japan
Sweden
Puerto Rico
South Korea
Chile
Canada
Serbia
Spain
Argentina
Peru
United States
Macedonia
Mexico
Bangladesh
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Montenegro
India
Uganda
Moldova
Albania
Zimbabwe
South Africa
China
Jordan
Tanzania
Vietnam
Philippines
0 25 50 75 100
Percent of respondents
NOTE: The question asked, “Which statement comes closest to your own views: human beings should master nature or
humans should coexist with nature?”
SOURCE: A. Leiserowitz, 2005. Data from World Values Survey, The 1999–2002 Values Surveys Integrated Data File 1.0,