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Figure 5: Actions takenReduced energy consumption inyour home by turning things off more61.926.83.17.7Bought energy-effi cient lightbulbs58.925.16.39.3Bought an energy-effi cient appliance42.631.28.916.9Talked to friends or family aboutglobal warming17.456.8 6.1 19.1Decided to buy a product producedlocally rather than from far away42.632.1 5.1 19.8Looked for products that contributeless to global warming because of aTV or radio program you saw or heard13.845.5 9.0 31.3Decided to travel in a moreenergy-effi cient way28.133.2 6.8 31.6Sought out informationabout global warmingBought a product that doescontribute less to global warmingspecifi cally because of anadvertisement you saw or heardDecided to travel a shorter distance8.817.013.748.9 7.9 34.138.6 9.1 34.825.4 9.8 50.4Bought “green energy” fromyour electricity supplier16.011.9 19.0 52.2Used a “carbon calculator” to assessyour own contribution toglobal warming2.7 14.8 13.7 68.30% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%Yes – often Yes – from time to time I plan to in next 6 months Have not doneA somewhat greater proportion of Australian consumers say that they are taking, orwilling to take action, than expressed by consumers in the UK or US. For example 88% ofAustralians say they are trying to conserve energy at home, compared to 85% of UK andUS consumers.Unfortunately, there is some evidence that people are over-reporting their own actions,which is a well-documented tendency in opinion polls. For example, in this survey 22%of respondents said that they buy green energy, but according to the government’s greenenergy website, the actual fi gure nationally is around 10% of households.What Assures Consumers on Climate Change – Australian Update 19
But there are still some difficulties and obstaclesIn the fi rst studies of ‘What Assures Consumers on Climate Change’ in the USA andUK, respondents were segmented according to their levels of action and concern aboutclimate change. Seventy fi ve percent of citizens were found in the group with highconcern about global warming, but low levels of action, while only a minority showing upas classical ‘ethical consumers’: informed, motivated and enabled to take action. Therewere an equally signifi cant group of people who are not strongly concerned but who arenevertheless willing to take actions, perhaps because of social pressure, or governmentintervention and incentives.In Australia, the situation is signifi cantly different. There are more than double theproportions of consumers who are both concerned and active, and very few who are notconcerned at all about climate change.Figure 6: Consumer concern mapped against the level of consumer action in AustraliaLevel of Action TakenNot strongly concerned about globalwarming, but willing to take actionswhere clearly signposted andsupported by incentives andsocial norms.Do not see global warming as anissue to be personally concernedabout, or take any action.1% 21%4% 75%Concerned about global warming,willing to make an effort,empowered to takesignifi cant action.Concerned about global warmingbut challenged to see how theiractions could make a difference.Level of Concern20 What Assures Consumers on Climate Change – Australian Update
Page 1 and 2: What Assures Consumersin Australiao
Page 3: Research MethodologyThe desk resear
Page 6 and 7: Executive SummaryAustralians have h
Page 8 and 9: 15. Effective assurance means smart
Page 10 and 11: Box 1: Raising the public profile o
Page 12 and 13: High-visibility, low-impact actions
Page 14 and 15: In 2008 AccountAbility, LRQA and th
Page 16 and 17: Some consumer climate change initia
Page 18 and 19: The view from AustraliaThis perspec
Page 20 and 21: Figure 3: Most important national p
Page 24 and 25: Consumers are keen to reduce their
Page 26 and 27: We can break the trends to action d
Page 28 and 29: Box 4: Green BeerIn March 2008 Fost
Page 30 and 31: Learning from such initiatives, cou
Page 32 and 33: Whilst the appliance labelling sche
Page 34 and 35: Can consumers contribute toAustrali
Page 36 and 37: challenges together with neighbouri
Page 38 and 39: 3. Generate overwhelming support fo
Page 40 and 41: Endnotes1‘Govt must act now on cl
Page 42: About This ReportThis report, focus

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