Climate change should be higher priority, says poll

A new opinion poll of 19 nations from around the world finds that majorities in 15 countries think their government should put a higher priority on addressing climate change than it does now. This includes the largest greenhouse gas emitters: China (62% want more action), the US (52%), and Russia (56%). In all but three nations most people think their government should give climate change a relatively high priority (6-10 on a 0-10 scale: on average 7.33). However in only four nations do most people think that is what their government is doing. The poll also found that people tend to underestimate how high a priority their fellow citizens place on addressing climate change, with twice as many people saying they are above average than saying they are below average. WorldPublicOpinion.org conducted the poll of 18,578 respondents in 19 nations that comprise 60 per cent of the world's population. This includes most of the largest nations � China, India, the United States, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Russia � as well as Mexico, Chile, Germany, Great Britain, France, Poland, Ukraine, Kenya, Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, the Palestinian territories and South Korea. Polling was also conducted in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.