- 71% believe that the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its consequences should accelerate the green transition.
- Despite the energy and inflation crisis, nearly half of Danes (47%) consider climate change to be the biggest challenge the country is facing.
- 80% say that, if we do not drastically reduce our consumption of energy and goods in the coming years, we will be heading for a global catastrophe.
- 63% are in favour of indexing energy prices to the level of consumption per household.
These are some of the results from the latest yearly climate survey, conducted in August 2022 and published today by the European Investment Bank (EIB). The EIB is the lending arm of the European Union and the world’s largest multilateral lender for climate action projects.
After a challenging year in which Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparked an ongoing energy crisis and accelerated inflation all over Europe, and a summer marked by record heatwaves and droughts, Danes have become even more acutely aware of the impact of climate change and the need for urgent action.
Climate change awareness and urgency
While COVID-19 was considered the biggest challenge facing Danes last year, concerns about inflation now predominate. 60% cite the increasing cost of living as their top concern, compared with 36% across the rest of the European Union.
Climate change comes right after inflation and concern about it is increasing rapidly (47% consider it to be the biggest challenge). In addition, 59% of Danes now say they feel the effects of climate change on their daily lives (4 percentage points more than in 2021).
To solve the energy and climate crisis, 80% think that if we do not drastically reduce our consumption of energy and goods in the coming years, we will be heading for a global catastrophe. At the same time, 75% feel that the government is reacting too slowly, and only a slight majority (52%) think that Denmark will succeed in substantially reducing its carbon emissions by 2030.
War in Ukraine and green transition
Most Danes (71%) believe that the war in Ukraine and its consequences for the price of oil and gas should accelerate the green transition (5 percentage points more than the European average of 66%). When asked to rank their energy priorities, the Danes expect their government to prioritise the development of renewable energies (53%), before focusing on energy supply diversification to avoid being overly reliant on a single energy provider (31%).
A smaller proportion of Danes believe that citizens and companies must do more to reduce their consumption (16% compared with the European average of 19%).