Regina – Only two per cent of Canadians believe climate change is not occurring, a new important survey released on August 15 by IPAC-CO2 Research Inc. concluded.
The survey comes on the heels of Alberta Premier Alison Redford’s recent push for a National Energy Strategy, which would address the future of Canada’s oil and gas industries, and its approach to carbon management.
“Our survey indicates that Canadians from coast to coast overwhelmingly believe climate change is real and is occurring, at least in part due to human activity,” explained Dr. Carmen Dybwad, CEO of the environmental non-government organization said. “These findings have been consistent from 2011 and 2012. Canadians care about issues like extreme weather, drought and climate change.”
Opinions about the cause of climate change and how to combat it are, however, sharply divided among the provinces.
“Canadians most commonly (54%) believe that climate change is occurring partially due to human activity and partially due to natural climate variation,” said Briana Brownell of Insightrix Research, Inc. who conducted the survey for IPAC-CO2. “Residents of Quebec (44%), Atlantic Canada (34%) and British Columbia (32%) are more likely to believe climate change is occurring due to human activity than those on the Prairies (Alberta and Saskatchewan 21%, Manitoba 24%).”
Canadians are also divided on what they believe should be the priorities to fight climate change.
A total of 35% of Canadians believe the priority should be to promote cleaner cars running on electricity or low-carbon fuels while only 16% favored a tax on carbon dioxide emissions from the whole economy. Support for a carbon tax is lowest in British Columbia (6%) and highest in Quebec (24%).
A key solution cited by Canadians is Carbon Capture and Storage, or CCS, which involves capturing carbon dioxide from an industrial source of greenhouse gases, transporting it, and storing it deep in the Earth’s sub-surface.
A majority of Canadians agree that capturing and storing carbon dioxide should be compulsory when building a new coal (59%) or natural gas (57%) power plant, though Canadians are concerned about the risks associated with CCS.
Quebec residents (71%) would be concerned if carbon dioxide was stored underground within 1.5 kilometres to 3 kilometres from their home, while Saskatchewan residents (43%) were the least worried.
Residents of British Columbia (60%) are most likely to believe that the storage of carbon dioxide represents a safety risk in the future. Again, Saskatchewan residents (48%) are significantly less likely to hold this belief.
“CCS is not the ‘magic bullet’ solution to combat climate change, but the development of CCS technology represents a necessary step in reducing Canada’s emissions,” said Dr. Dybwad. For a second consecutive year, IPAC-CO2 contracted Insightrix Research, Inc. to conduct an online survey of Canadian residents. Survey responses were collected from 1,550 Canadians between May 29 and June 11.
The percentage of Canadians who are unsure whether or not they would benefit from CCS has increased notably from 42% in 2011 to 48% in 2012.
Residents of Ontario are more likely to believe that it would (33%) benefit them, while in Quebec the reverse is true, where 30% believe they would not benefit from the technology.
The proportion of Canadians who are unsure of the effectiveness of carbon capture and storage has increased notably from one quarter (24%) in 2011 to one third (35%) in 2012.
Despite the concerns many Canadians have about the technology, Dr. Dybwad remains optimistic about the future of CCS and its impact on Canada’s environment.
“Canadians are concerned about the risks and benefits involved with CCS, but IPAC-CO2 exists to ensure that carbon dioxide is stored safely and permanently in the ground by providing risk and performance assessments of carbon dioxide storage projects.”
Other Key Findings
Climate Change
- One quarter or more believe that promoting cleaner cars running on electricity or low carbon fuels (35%), stimulating the development of industries that supply environmentally friendly technologies and services (29%), and raising the efficiency of industrial processes (27%) should be priorities to fight climate change.
- Support for solar energy (95% totally or fairly in favour) and wind energy (89%) continue to be the top energy production options of which Canadians are familiar. The results are consistent with the 2011 poll from IPAC-CO2 and 30 percentage points higher than the 2011 survey in Europe.
- Most Canadians (51%) agree that fossil fuels will still be used after the year 2050 for electricity production in Canada while two in ten (21%) disagree and about three in ten (28%) are unsure.
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)
- The level of awareness of CCS technology has increased. Last year 14% claimed to have heard of CCS and know what it is compared to 17% this year.
- Saskatchewan residents are most likely to have heard of CCS and know what it is followed by residents of Alberta. Residents of Atlantic Canada are least likely to have heard of the technology and to know what it is.
Gender Differences
- About one in three (35%) men had not heard of CCS while a majority (60%) of women had not heard of CCS.
- Women (68%) are more likely to be very or fairly worried than men (54%) if carbon dioxide was stored deep in the ground within five kilometres of their homes.
Source: IPAC-CO2.
