The Hungarian public is particularly concerned about climate change and believes that politicians should take this issue more seriously, and that the future of the whole human civilization is in danger. We surveyed what Hungarians think about climate change and we were surprised by the climate-friendly responses we received. Fidesz voters are ambivalent but they think that the government should be more active in climate matters.
Green issues have burst into the political agenda in recent months. In our representative survey we examined how people in Hungary are touched by this issue. We found some disagreements over who should take action and what that action should be, but first, let’s look at some data showing how strong the climate consciousness has become by now. Green issues seemingly earned a prestigious position on the fear map of Hungary.
As the chart shows, 88 % of Hungarians believe that climate change threatens the future of the whole human civilization, and 77 % think that we need to make significant changes to our way of life over the next three decades. 82 % agree that climate change is one of the most important issues and that everyone should be much more concerned about it.
The above data comes from a joint poll conducted by one of the largest Hungarian online media houses, Index.hu, DemNet and Závecz Research Institute. In a 1000-person, representative survey, we were mainly interested in how much people fear climate change, to what extent they see it as a real or a fabricated problem, who they believe in the matter and what measures they think should be taken. For example, is it enough to rely on a technological solution or should economic aspects be abandoned? Perhaps the people themselves are willing to pay more for polluting activities?
We will return to these divisive questions, but first we should emphasize that according to the results, Hungarian opinion is particularly afraid of climate change. Nearly 60 % say they are very or extremely, 30 % somewhat concerned, while just over 10 % are left cold by it. 7 out of 10 respondents have become more worried in recent years.
Based on this, we may not talk about climate awareness yet, but we can talk about a large camp of ‘climate-conscious’ people in Hungary. Through some specific questions, we tried to clarify what people find really worrying about climate change. According to the answers, people see the living conditions of future generations at risk in general, and afraid of more frequent natural disasters, water scarcity and health consequences. From the climate change perspective, mass migration was still the least serious risk identified by respondents, but 40 % are still afraid of it (far more of them Fidesz supporters than opposition voters).
There is a general agreement that climate change is a real phenomenon, with only 0.3% of respondents questioning it. It is rather the cause that is questioned: is it essentially human or natural? While science has a 97 percent consensus on the former, some media and politics tend to treat this as an open question. According to our research, this is what the Hungarian public believes:
It seems that the vast majority in Hungary recognizes the responsibility of human civilization, with only 5 % believing that natural processes are the primary cause. However, most respondents (56 %) take a more cautious stance. They believe that the climate can be transformed by natural processes and human activities alike.
This survey does not reveal whether it is a moderate scepticism and obscurity or rather a fear of strong expression of opinion. Based on our other questions, it seems that anti-science views on climate change has no big support, at least not bigger than other conspiracy theories’. Of course, it is a matter of comparison. There are 19 % who believe climate change is deliberately caused by someone in order to reduce world population, and another 23 % who do not think that this explanation may be ruled out.
This conspiracy theory is more popular among those with low levels of education (average score of 2.9 among those with elementary school certificate compared to 2.0 for graduates on a 1 to 5 agreement scale).
Examining credibility, we found that scientists proved to be the most credible sources of information: on a scale of credibility from 1 to 5 (1 = absolutely not trusted, 5 = absolutely trusted), 58 % gave them a 5, and another 22 % a 4 when it comes to climate change. Journalists and NGOs have lover scores (probably not independent from the anti-NGO rhetoric). Political and economic actors seems to be less credible, since 54 % rated them 1.
Confidence in political decision-makers and interested economic actors are equally low, but people think these two should do the most to prevent climate change. 83 % think that governments should take more responsibility, 89 % think the same about corporations. Moreover the majority emphasizes the responsibility of developed countries (86 %) and international institutions (80 %).
While 80 % agree that „politicians should finally take action to avoid a climate disaster”, there is no consensus on the future. Only one third of respondents thinks that politicians will really act. Respondents doubt that governments will meet their climate expectations.
What kind of climate actions would Hungarian people prefer? What would they even support? The survey consulted on a number of specific options and overall there is a fairly strong potential for support. For example, a large majority think that the state should fund the energy upgrading of buildings, support renewable energy (here we have combined solar and wind energy, two alternative energy sources to which the state has a very different attitude) and impose a special tax on polluting companies.
The survey results could be affected by the fact that respondents, like other questionnaire surveys, may try to live up to an imaginary expectation if they think there is a some „right answer”. The results do not show the percieved importance of these actions. It is also a point that the above listed steps are mostly things that are easier to support in theory, than having to pay the price individually. Those ideas that have a direct impact on the household budget were already less widely supported: around 26 % would favor an increased tax on fossil fuels, and banning energy-wasting household appliances did not inspire undivided enthusiasm, although still more than half of the respondents thought it would be a good idea.
Thus, we can observe a particular attitude toward climate change. While the overwhelming majority of people are very concerned about the phenomenon and feel it should be dealt with a lot more by politicians and large companies, the topic is also somewhat boring: while a quarter of respondents say that there is too little talk about, half of them says there is too much discussion about it nowadays.
The perception of the meaning of individual action and conscious consumption is also contradictory. Two-thirds of people think that consumers should do more to protect the environment, but almost as many feel that as long as the big polluters and decision-makers do not take action, people will try in vain to combat climate change.
Of course this is a real problem and the inconsistency in the answers to our questions also appears. Most say they would personally be willing to pay more for their products if they knew for sure that they were made in an environmentally friendly way. In principle, 64 % even agree that we may have to give up some of our material security to protect the environment.
It is also true that such questions are hypothetical in many ways. Opposite to real actions in our lives, the answers are not so important in case of a phone survey. On the other hand, it is noteworthy that the majority of respondents feel they have a personal responsibility to mitigate climate change – with 33 % saying they have the greatest responsibility.
Finally, what do people actually do? 54 % of the respondents say they personally do something against climate change. In their responses, avoiding plastic bags or even car use, cycling, power saving, composting and raising children in the spirit of respect for nature, were recurring elements, but separate collection was the most mentioned. It seems that the latter one is the main way of climate action of the Hungarian public.