Nearly 77% of francophone Belgians are calling for the continuation of climate mobilisation, it emerged on Friday in the twelfth edition of the Thermomètre Solidaris. This year, the mutual society has focused on climate change and its impact on health.
The survey was carried out on the basis of an opinion poll from October and sampled at least 1,000 francophone Belgians aged 18 and over.
Results show that 84% of those asked believed that the deterioration in the state of the planet will speed up in the future. The same number believe it is the current organisation of the economy and global finance that is leading to the destruction of the environment. Furthermore, 69% think that climate change has real, harmful consequences - direct or indirect - for human health.
The inquiry also highlighted the willingness of citizens to act for themselves: nearly one in five of those polled claims to have changed consumption and travel habits already, while two-thirds of them say they have already started to modify their behaviour and consider they can do still better.
In the light of these observations, Solidaris wants to launch an appeal: "Radical change is needed in our society (that) must also and above all take into account today's social realities and widening of the equality gap in order not to leave the most deprived by the wayside: single-parent families, women, the young, the elderly and other people with disabilities who are known to be at risk from increasing poverty."
The mutual society consequently recommends changes to those economic policies constituting an impediment to participation in the ecological transition and also calls for an end to subsidies and tax measures that are harmful to the environment and to health.
The Brussels Times
