Epson study reveals climate reality deficit

Hyderabad: Epson’s latest research discovers a potentially concerning gap between climate reality and people’s understanding of its catastrophic effects. The survey captures global experiences and perceptions of climate change from 15,264 consumers across Asia, Europe, North America and South America, including 1,207 consumers in India. The Epson Climate Reality Barometer is aimed to raise public […]

Hyderabad: Epson’s latest research discovers a potentially concerning gap between climate reality and people’s understanding of its catastrophic effects. The survey captures global experiences and perceptions of climate change from 15,264 consumers across Asia, Europe, North America and South America, including 1,207 consumers in India.

The Epson Climate Reality Barometer is aimed to raise public awareness of climate change impacts, influence transformative business decisions, and better inform policy makers.

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When questioned about their views on humanity’s ability to avert a climate crisis within their lifetimes, almost three in four (73.4 per cent) of people surveyed in India as part of the Epson Climate Reality Barometer, state they are “very” or “somewhat” optimistic, while just one in 10 (11.4 per cent) claim to be very or somewhat pessimistic.

This significantly outweighs the global trend, with close to half of the respondents worldwide (46 per cent) stating that they are optimistic and 27 per cent expressing pessimism in this regard. In India 4.1 per cent of respondents do not believe that there is a climate emergency at all. The US tops the list of climate deniers at 11 per cent.

Optimism in India is driven most by the opportunity to use science and technology to solve problems (31.9 per cent), the fact that people are more aware of climate change dangers (26.4 per cent) and the ability to move away from fossil fuels like coal to renewable sources like wind energy (21.4 per cent).

While 66.2 per cent of Indians are already reducing plastic use, 8.8 per cent of people say they have no intention of doing so, or don’t know how to. Similarly, 42.6 per cent of Indians claim that they are boycotting unsustainable brands but 16.7 per cent of those surveyed say they don’t intend to or aren’t sure how to go about this.

Yasunori Ogawa, global president of Epson, said, “The discovery of the climate reality deficit shows that awareness coupled with action, will be critical to tackling the emergency. Epson’s goal is to bring this awareness and the technologies needed — by our company, other businesses and consumers — to action transformational change.”

Beyond product and materials innovation, businesses can make a big difference by promoting and demonstrating climate responsibility. Epson carries this forward by transitioning to 100 per cent renewable electricity and engaging with initiatives such as the RE100 renewable energy project and others.

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