In 2021, Epson published its first Climate Reality Barometer: a survey of people from diverse markets, ages, and backgrounds to gauge understanding of and attitudes towards climate change.
2023 marks Epson’s third edition of the Climate Reality Barometer. It presents updates and new insights into how attitudes are (and are not) changing as the climate crisis unfolds. This year’s Barometer has been expanded significantly, reaching over 30,000 people (26,000 in 2022) across 39 global markets (28 in 2022). The Barometer also, for the first time, explores and attempts to better understand the attitudes of those born since the first COP conference in 1995 – known as the COP Generation (Gen COP).
Key market findings
Acute and persistent droughts have hit Kenya hard in recent years, with the State Department of Livestock confirming Kenya has lost 2.5 million heads of livestock and that the remaining 10 million heads in the drylands are suffering without pasture and water. Researchers have linked climate change to the severity and frequency of natural disasters such as droughts, floods, locust invasions and the COVID-19 pandemic, estimating the cost of mitigation and compensation for loss and damage to be about $580 billion in 2030.
• With this context in mind, it’s perhaps unsurprising that nearly three-quarters of Kenyans (70.7%) surveyed as part of the Epson Climate Reality Barometer think climate change is the biggest issue facing the world today, significantly higher than any other market surveyed. This is followed by rising prices at 62.1% and poverty, 54.3%
• This identification of climate change as the biggest issue is skewed towards those 30 and over at 74.4%, vs. the COP Generation (those aged 29 and under) at 59.8%
• Despite this, optimism for averting a climate disaster within the respondents’ lifetime is also high at 75.2% (79% for the COP Generation and 74% of those aged 30 years and over). In comparison, optimism globally was only 47%
• The proportion of people in Kenya who are optimistic Epson can avert a climate disaster in their lifetime has stayed almost the same over the last year, falling only fractionally from 76% in the 2022 Barometer to 75.2% in this year’s Barometer
• This sense of optimism is supported by Kenyans’ feelings on climate change looking ahead to the next 12 months, with 47.3% choosing ‘Hopeful’ (the #1 response). In fact, this is reflected across their top three choices, with the next most popular choice being ‘Optimistic’ at 42.5%, and the third being ‘Positive’ at 36.3%
• When asked about the most important things they believed companies could do in the fight against climate change, ‘invest in environmental technologies’ is top at 68.8%, followed by ‘improving recycling and reuse products’ at 57.5%.
Reality reaction: individuals taking action
Promisingly, lots of people are already taking action on certain things to mitigate the climate emergency.
In Kenya, the top three actions people report that they already do are:
- Use more reusable goods, i.e. shopping bags (89.4%)
- Reduce plastic use (77.1%)
- Walk or cycling more often (69.9%)
The top three actions consumers are planning to take in the future are:
- Switch to an electric vehicle (72.1%)
- For those in work, encourage my workplace to commit to/further its net zero strategy (60.4%)
- For students, encourage my educational establishment to commit to/further its net zero strategy (50%)
- Switch to renewable energy (53.4%)
Reality reaction: a call for companies to act
People in Kenya believe the most important things companies can do in the fight against climate change are:
- Invest in environmental technologies (68.8%)
- Improve recycling and reuse products (57.5%)
- Encourage employee participation in environmental activities (38.7%)
Reality global: Comparing Global Findings to local Findings
- Kenyans are significantly more likely to see climate change as the world’s biggest issue, at 70.7%, vs. a global figure of 55.3%. In contrast, the least likely to pick this option was Saudi Arabia, at 43%
- At the same time, people in Kenya are by far the most optimistic about averting a climate disaster in their lifetime, at 75.2% vs. 47% globally.
- As with the global picture, in Kenya, the COP Generation is slightly more likely to be optimistic, at 79% vs. 74% of those 30 years of age and older.
- There are mixed feelings about climate change across the markets on the African continent; looking at the next 12 months, the top response in Kenya was ‘Hopeful’ (47.3%); in Egypt it was ‘Positive’ (38.7%); in Morocco, it was ‘Hopeful’ (33.3%); in Tunisia it was ‘Fearful’ (26.8%); in South Africa it was ‘Fearful’ (36.7%)
Reality now: What’s next?
Epson is acting in the face of climate change – not freezing in its headlights.
Epson believes that no one individual, community, company, technology, government, or even hemisphere can tackle these challenges alone. It is only by coming together that the avert catastrophe can be averted.
The 2023 Epson Climate Reality Barometer shows progress – the world finally acknowledges that climate change is THE issue and THE challenge of our lives.
