Resignation to climate change is increasing in Spain and it is doing so at a remarkable speed. It grows to the point that the percentage of Spanish fatalists, of those who think that it is no longer possible to stop global warming or alleviate the catastrophes and deaths it will bring, is among the highest on the continent. This is detected by the barometer that every year, on April 22, on the occasion of International Earth Day, monitors the evolution of citizen perception of the threat of global warming in 33 countries on five continents.
The majority of Spaniards continue to support the plans and measures that try to stop as far as possible the greatest current risk to life on Earth, but there are increasingly more apathetic people, those who see no harm in lowering their arms in the face of what they consider a inevitable phenomenon. The pessimists have not stopped increasing in the last three years, especially in the last twelve months. There are already 25%, one in four Spaniards, who think that climate change is out of control and that it is too late to stop it or prevent its damage, according to the study carried out by the multinational demographics company Ipsos. In fact, the level of Spanish climate fatigue is so high that in Europe only the French surpass it, and by the minimum (26%).
Critics against governments and companies for not doing enough to stop the threat have fallen eleven points in two years
Those who think that Spain should do more and deepen the fight against climate change are 62%, but they have dropped five points in the last year. The involution that is perceived among citizens means that it is not surprising to learn that almost a third think, on the contrary, that too many sacrifices are being asked of the country, its industrial fabric and its inhabitants against global warming.
Compromise with inaction
But the block of questions that best illustrates the rapid progress of those willing to throw in the towel is the one that measures whether citizens think that those who do not act to combat climate change are failing everyone else. Although the majority defend it, they have decreased year after year since 2022, with an average drop of 16% in the last two years.
Those who censure national, regional or local executives for not being ambitious in this fight have gone from 70% in 2022 to 59% two months ago (the survey was carried out between January and February), a decline identical to that of those who think that companies that do not commit themselves against global warming fail employees and customers and very similar to those who believe that those who do not do what they can on a daily basis to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases betrays generations. futures, which have fallen from 73% to 61%, twelve points less in two years.
The growth of climate fatalism is a much more pronounced phenomenon among Spanish men than among Spanish women and, even more worrying, this trend is especially affecting younger age groups. Among those who consider that the climate catastrophe is inevitable, no matter what is done, the 'millennials', those in their thirties, stand out. 28% of them subscribe to it, three points above the average. In fact, they are nine points more resigned than their parents or grandparents, the 'baby boomers', among whom only 19% fall into this pessimism.
More confident parents and grandparents
But the question that most clearly portrays young resignation in Spain is the one that asks you to say if you agree that just by all of us making small changes in our daily lives we would have a great impact on climate change. 70% of Spanish women and 60% of Spanish men support the effectiveness of personal commitment, but where the differences really become more acute is in the comparison by age.
The 'baby boomers', the post-war generations, who range between 60 and 78 years old, bet 76% on the value of everyday actions compared to the support of only 43% of the 'generation Z', the twenty-somethings , 33 points more skeptical. What's more, 26% of Spaniards and 25% of twenty-somethings argue that it makes no sense to change their behavior to confront climate change because, in any case, no difference will be made. A pessimistic vision that only 16% of Spanish women and the same percentage of baby boomers share.
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