Arabs, Americans and Chinese least concerned with environmental issues

This is yet another disappointing indicator from the Arab World. According to the Annual Pew Global Attitudes Survey, respondents from the three Arab countries surveyed (Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon) were among the bottom five populations concerned with climate change and environmental issues. Not surprisingly, the two other nations that completed the unhonorable list are the USA and China.

The survey that measures public opinions on a package of political, religious and economic issues has introduced environment in its 2007 edition. The first assessment in 2007 showed that environmental concerns are raised in all countries except the Arab World.

The current survey is interesting in the fact that the top four countries whose respondents showed environmental concerns were not western. Nearly every Brazilian (92%) and at least two-thirds of the publics in Turkey (82%), Tanzania (75%), Japan (73%) showed environmental concerns. The top four countries were followed by France (72%), Argentina (70%), Mexico (70%), South Korea (68%), and Spain (67%).

At the bottom comes the figures from the Arab World. Anxiety about global warming is low among Lebanese (43%), Americans (42%), Jordanians (41%) and Egyptians (38%). However, the country that holds the bottom ranking is China with only 24% of the sample concerned with environmental matters.

The United States, however still holds the reputation of being the most environmentally destructive country. publics in 13 of the 24 countries surveyed name the United States more than any other country as the world’s top polluter. This view is especially prevalent in Argentina (54%), Spain (51%), and Pakistan (51%), where more than half say the U.S. is hurting the world’s environment the most. More than four-in-ten in Turkey (46%), Brazil (44%), and Indonesia (42%) also place clear blame on the United States, as do smaller pluralities in several other countries, including its neighbor to the south; 38% of Mexicans fault the U.S. for global environmental problems.

On the positive side, most of the respondents say that Germany is the country which may have the best impact on enhancing the state of environment. Majorities or pluralities in 10 of the 24 countries surveyed name Germany the most likely to do so (80%), followed by the France (71%), the UK(45%), and Australia (43%).