Consumer fears about climate change have increased around the world over the past year.
According to new research from the Mintel Consulting Sustainability Barometer 2022, the number of global consumers citing climate change as one of the top three environmental concerns has increased from an average of 39% to 46% between 2021-22.
In addition to climate change, concerns about water shortages (from 27% in 2021 to 31% in 2022) and food shortages (from 17% to 23%) are skyrocketing.
Climate change remains the world's top environmental priority with nearly half (46%) of consumers globally citing it as a top three concern.
Air quality (eg exhaust gases, industrial emissions) (36%) and plastic pollution (eg ocean plastics) (33%) complete the world's top three environmental concerns;
however, concerns about plastic pollution have declined slightly from 36% in 2021.
A
growing awareness
is evident as just under three in five consumers (58%) globally agree that extreme weather events (eg floods, heat waves) in the country they live in encourage them to
personally carry out more activities to protect the environment
.
And it seems that helping the planet brings with it a factor of well-being as an overwhelming 68% of consumers globally say that doing things that benefit the environment makes them feel happy.
While 38% say they want to show other people how they are doing good for the environment (e.g. by sharing on social media).
A further 24% say they have studied their annual carbon footprint (for example with an online calculator or app).
While environmental priorities have changed over the past year,
sustainable consumer behaviors remain focused on simplicity and frugality
: recycling of packaging (59% in 2022 versus 60% in 2021), meal planning to avoid food waste (53% in 2022 versus 52% in 2021) and the reduction in the purchase of clothes (50% in 2022 versus 52 % in 2021) remain the main global sustainable behaviors 2022-2021.
Additionally, global consumer optimism stalled with 55% believing that if we act now, we still have time to save the planet, compared to 54% who said the same last year.
Richard Cope, Senior Trends Consultant, Mintel Consulting, said: “The fact that concerns about climate change and water and food shortages take precedence over previous concerns about waste and plastic pollution indicates the emergence of a more informed global consumer.
Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and disruptions to food, water and energy supply chains have given consumers a harsh control of reality, damaging their health and wallets and activating them in the process.
Meanwhile, the escalation of activism, the normative reaction and the
huge scale of future challenges and required solutions have educated global consumers enough to sniff out greenwashing campaigns and there is no going back.
This means that companies will increasingly need to state and clearly communicate: the truly impactful actions they are taking to reduce emissions, rather than simply offsetting them or immersing themselves in "plastic-free" populist campaigns.
This growing awareness of resource inputs and emissions and waste will also spell the end of the "environmentally friendly risk".
as a credible marketing term ".
rather than simply compensating for them or plunging into "plastic-free" populist campaigns.
This growing awareness of resource inputs and emissions and waste will also spell the end of the "environmentally friendly risk".
as a credible marketing term ".
rather than simply compensating for them or plunging into "plastic-free" populist campaigns.
This growing awareness of resource inputs and emissions and waste will also spell the end of the "environmentally friendly risk".
as a credible marketing term ".