The world's local bank
Climate Confidence Monitor 2010
The results of HSBC's fourth Climate Confidence Monitor reveal that climate change is one of the top three concerns globally, on a par with economic stability and terrorism. For the first time, climate change was ranked the number one concern in Hong Kong.
Highlights of Climate Confidence Monitor 2010 results
- Climate change is number one concern in Hong Kong
- Higher concern and optimism with greater confidence and stronger personal commitment in emerging markets
- Responding to climate change will drive economic prosperity and create jobs
- Global call for business to invest in tackling the challenge
- For the first time, climate change has topped Hong Kong people's agenda. One in four (25 per cent) Hong Kong respondents ranked climate change as the number one concern in their lives even ahead of global economic stability (22 per cent) and pandemic diseases (16 per cent) such as swine flu.
- Hong Kong has shown the highest level of general climate change awareness with 83 per cent saying they understand a little about it compared to a 15-country average of 61 per cent, followed by China (78 per cent), Singapore and Japan (74 per cent) respectively. However, Hong Kong lagged in depth of understanding about climate change; with only 15 per cent saying they understand a lot about it compared to the global average of 36 per cent, showing a similar level of understanding as respondents in China and Japan (20 per cent).
- Hong Kong respondents demonstrate the strongest personal commitment to reducing impacts of climate change among developed economies. Reducing home heating and air-conditioning (37 per cent), recycling household waste (22 per cent) and implementing energy-saving home improvements (16 per cent) are seen as the top three important steps to combat climate change in Hong Kong, similar to global trends.
- Combating climate change rather than saving money is the primary driver for Hong Kong families to take low-carbon actions such as paying a higher price for more energy efficient products, driving less and eating less meat.43 per cent said they would pay a higher price for energy efficient products, higher than the global average of 40 per cent and countries such as the USA (26 per cent) and Japan (23 per cent).
"Strong national and global policies that provide incentives for investment in clean technology, that price fossil fuels in ways that reflect their true economic and social costs, and that assist consumers in using energy more efficiently, have the potential to unleash a significant pool of investment that can serve as a powerful engine for a new era of economic growth."
Lord Nicholas Stern
Special Adviser to HSBC's Group Chairman on Economic Development and Climate Change
"Emerging economies are more positive and upbeat with greater personal commitment. While individuals can be a catalyst to help reduce their climate vulnerability, we should also look for cross-sector collaboration and strong leadership between governments, businesses and NGOs to turn these concern and knowledge into actions for sustainable communities. Now is the time for more investments in low-carbon innovation."
Teresa Au
Head of Corporate Sustainability Asia Pacific Region
- The emerging economies provide a welcome note of optimism, leading the way in terms of concern, personal commitment and the belief that climate change can be stopped in a survey that reflects a largely gloomy picture of a worried, pessimistic public. Two-thirds (64 per cent) of respondents in China claimed to be making a significant effort to help reduce climate change, compared to 23 per cent in the UK, 20 per cent in the USA and 11 per cent in Japan. One in three people in Vietnam, India and China believe climate change can be halted, compared to just one in 20 in France and the UK.
- Opinions surrounding the business opportunities and economic prospects presented by climate change among the 15 participating countries were more encouraging. Over half of respondents in Brazil, India and Malaysia strongly agreed their country would prosper and new jobs would be created by responding to climate change. The UK and the USA were slightly less optimistic, but a third of people still thought economic opportunities and new jobs could be created.
- There is a strong call for business to invest in addressing climate change, with almost three-quarters of people in France (73 per cent) and more than two-thirds in Germany (67 per cent) and Hong Kong (65 per cent) expressing the view that greater business investment is needed in this area. NGOs and individuals were seen as central to the effort, backed up by effective government intervention (such as carbon taxes and emissions trading schemes).
- Launched in 2007, the Climate Confidence Monitor focuses on consumers' attitude and behaviour towards climate change revealing global trends and implications for roles to be taken by governments, businesses, NGOs and individuals worldwide.
- The 2010 research was carried out as an online survey by Lightspeed on behalf of HSBC in August and September 2010.
- A minimum of 1,000 respondents were surveyed in each of 15 markets. Quotas were set to be nationally representative in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and USA. Respondents in Brazil, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore and Vietnam were representative of the online population in those countries.
The results of HSBC's fourth Climate Confidence Monitor show that climate change is the number one concern in Hong Kong.
The climate business sector is growing fast, particularly in the emerging markets where the challenge of balancing rapid economic growth with climate change issues is most acute. HSBC is responding by helping customers to understand the benefits of a low-carbon economy, and is fostering climate dialogue and collaboration within the business community.
Mark McCombe
Chief Executive Officer Hong Kong, HSBC
