Copenhagen: Deal or no deal?

02 Nov 2009

65 per cent of global population demand governments commit to climate deal

Nearly two thirds (65 per cent) of people surveyed across the globe believe a new international deal to cut emissions is 'very important', according to the annual Climate Confidence Monitor released today. The 12 country study, commissioned by the HSBC Climate Partnership, sends a clear message to governments preparing to attend the UN climate change summit in December to agree on a policy framework to tackle climate change.

The third Climate Confidence Monitor reveals a global consensus on emission reduction targets. 79 per cent want to see a commitment to 'meet or significantly exceed' a 50-80 per cent cut in emissions by 2050. This demand for commitment to reduction targets is highest in Mexico (91 per cent), Brazil (90 per cent), Hong Kong (84 per cent) and China (82 per cent) and lowest in India (75 per cent), UK (71 per cent) and the US (66 per cent).

Despite the deepening of the global recession since last year's survey was conducted, seven in 10 people (69 per cent) agreed that addressing climate change is at least as important, if not more important than supporting their national economy during the downturn. Respondents to this question were asked to prioritise spending public money on healthcare, crime, national defence, education and supporting the national economy during the downturn.

Lord Stern, adviser to HSBC on economic development and climate change said: "With just over a month to go before Copenhagen, this is a clear call from the global population for a strong and effective deal. Rich and developing countries must act together to create an agreement that will lay the foundations for a future era of dynamic low-carbon growth."

The Climate Confidence Monitor 2009 also revealed:

Emerging v Developed Markets: For the third year running, the Climate Confidence Monitor shows that there is a stronger desire for action in emerging economies than in the developed world. In Brazil, 86 per cent and in Mexico, 83 per cent believe it is very important that a deal in Copenhagen is reached. Globally only two per cent of people feel a new climate deal isn't important at all.

Stephen Green, Group Chairman HSBC Holdings plc said: "We know that the impacts of climate change will particularly affect the emerging markets and clearly the people of those countries are concerned. We look to the Copenhagen meeting to create a framework for a low carbon economy that will allow emerging
markets to prosper and create attractive investment opportunities for businesses worldwide."

Climate Change v other global issues: In a year that brought media headlines of pandemic flu and economic meltdown, a third of all respondents (34 per cent) believe climate change is one of the biggest issues they worry about today. They were asked to rank climate change as an issue compared to global economic stability, terrorism, violence, pandemic disease, global poverty, natural disasters and social breakdown. In Mexico, 22 per cent of respondents ranked climate change as the number one issue.

Personal commitment to low carbon choices: Commitment to reduce personal impact on climate change by adapting lifestyle choices rose four percentage points from 2008 to 36 per cent this year. In particular, France and Mexico show increases in commitment of at least 15 percentage points in the past 12 months. The most popular steps people are taking to reduce their carbon footprint are recycling, turning off electronic equipment and using energy-saving light bulbs. People living in China, Hong Kong, India and France claimed to be most active in making low-carbon lifestyle choices.

Steve Howard, Chief Executive of the Climate Group commented on this trend: "World leaders must agree a deal in Copenhagen that unlocks low carbon jobs and growth, and enables the rest of us to make smarter, greener choices about the ways we heat our homes, fuel our cars and power our businesses."

The Climate Confidence Monitor is part of the HSBC Climate Partnership's aim to raise awareness of climate change issues and to facilitate action to address them. For more information on the results of the research, visit www.hsbc.com/climateconfidencemonitor

Media enquiries to:

Ravi Sunnak ravi.sunnak@trimediauk.com 020 7478 7818

Grant Richmond-Coggan grantrc@trimediauk.com 020 7025 7517

Lucy Jenkins lucyjenkins@hsbc.com 020 7992 2061

Daniela Hale daniela.hale@hsbc.com 020 7992 5786

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Further research findings:

• 65 per cent say that agreeing a new climate deal is 'extremely important' or 'very important'. This is highest in Brazil (86 per cent) and Mexico (83 per cent) and lowest in UK (56 per cent), Canada (55 per cent) and US (45 per cent). Globally, a further 16 per cent say that agreeing a deal is 'important', 11 per cent are 'unsure of its importance', five per cent say it 'isn't really important' and just two per cent say that it is' not important at all'.
• When asked whether we can stop climate change, 38 per cent of people said they strongly believed that it could not be stopped. This is highest in the UK (53 per cent), Canada (51 per cent) and France (50 percent). Only 17 per cent of people strongly believed that it could be stopped. This was highest amongst China (38 per cent), Hong Kong (28 per cent) and India (30 per cent).
• One in three (33 per cent) across the world say that people and organisations are not doing what is needed to tackle climate change. People in Asia are typically far more confident than those in Europe, North America and Latin America that enough is being done. China (54 per cent) and Hong Kong (40 per cent) have the highest levels of confidence.
• 31 per cent of people claim to make regular low carbon choices, which include using low carbon transport, regularly switching off electrical appliances, recycling and making energy efficient improvements to their houses. Highest responses came from China at 65 per cent, Hong Kong at 43 per cent and India at 38 per cent.

HSBC Climate Partnership
The HSBC Climate Partnership is a five-year partnership between HSBC, The Climate Group, Earthwatch, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and WWF. The partnership aims to combat the urgent threat of climate change by inspiring individuals, businesses and governments worldwide to tackle its impacts on people, forests, water and cities.

Achievements include:

• In 2009, The Climate Group launched the Hong Kong Carbon Reduction Campaign - the first cross-industry effort promoting a low-carbon lifestyle to HSBC employees; co-founded the Mumbai Energy Alliance to implement large-scale energy efficiency projects to reduce the city's energy costs and carbon footprint; and convened Climate Week NYC, a high-profile platform for business, government and citizens to voice their support for a global deal in Copenhagen.
• Since the launch of the HSBC Climate Partnership, Earthwatch has opened five Regional Climate Centres where, to date, almost 1000 HSBC Climate Champions have worked alongside leading scientists to investigate the impacts of climate change on forests and design workplace projects that help HSBC embed sustainable business practice.
• The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute has implemented a vast global field experiment encompassing nearly 2,000 ha of forest and 3.5 million trees. Across this area that spans 34 countries, STRI is studying the landscape at the scale of individual trees to quantify the benefits - such as carbon storage and water regulation - of forests in a changing climate.
• WWF is working with the Chinese government to extend the work on the central and lower Yangtze Protected Area network to the entire Yangtze River. This will incorporate over 150 protected areas, and the network will be used to provide basin resilience to the impacts of climate change.

Background on the research
The Climate Confidence Monitor research was carried out by Lightspeed and analysed by GlobeScan. It was based on a 10 question online survey. A minimum of 1,000 respondents were surveyed in 12 markets: Respondents selected to be nationally representative in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the UK and USA. Distribution in Brazil, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Mexico is representative of the online population in those countries.

HSBC Holdings plc
HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of the HSBC Group, is headquartered in London. The Group serves customers worldwide from around 8,500 offices in 86 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of US$2,422 billion at 30 June 2009, HSBC is one of the world's largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC is marketed worldwide as 'the world's local bank'.