While being in Greece we were wondering what is the local Greeks’ attitude towards ecology and climate protection. We carried out a street survey on 18th of November in the Greek city of Larissa. There were 16 participants of different age groups. We would like to present the results of the survey and summarise them.
Popularity of renewable energy sources in Greece
Renewable energy sources are crucial to save our planet without taking away our goods of modern life. In Poland, the number of photovoltaic, wind and hydroelectric installations is increasing. What is the situation in Greece?
We noticed a lot of solar panels in the country, but are they as common as we think? We asked passers-by about it.
According to the survey, 28.6% of people surveyed use renewable energy sources all the time, while 14.3% say they use them interchangeably with renewable energy sources. We were surprised to learn that as many as 57.1% of people questioned do not use green energy at all.
Does the popularity of green energy connect with the environmental concerns of Greeks?
We asked our respondents to rate their concern for the environment on a scale from 1 to 10. The results were positive. Not a single person gave a number between 1 and 4, indicating a high threshold of declarations about caring for nature. 64.4% gave a number between 8 and 10. 35.6% think that they are moderately concerned about the well-being of the environment (the number given was between 5 and 7)
According to our results the popularity of green energy does not correlate with the declaration of concern for the environment. However, this can be explained by the still developing market of renewable energy sources and the indigence of part of the population.
How do Greeks feel about the environmental care of their fellow citizens?
The results are very different from the self-assessment on the same topic. Greeks are more critical of other people in this regard, as shown by the results of the next question.
There were 28.6% of answers between 1 and 4, when previously it was 0%. Surprisingly, however, no one gave an answer in the range from 8 to 10, indicating the low opinion of Greeks about the environmental actions of fellow citizens.
How are government actions rated?
The most powerful organisations, such as national governments, have the greatest influence on climate change. They have the money and the power to effectively limit harmful actions towards the climate. Therefore, Greeks told us about their points of view on government activity in ecology.
As many as 78.6% gave a number between 1 and 4. We can see a high level of dissatisfaction with government policy.
On the other hand, only 28.4% of the respondents answered in favour of positive government activity.
What is the knowledge of environmental NGOs (non-governmental organizations)?
Apart from the government, there are some NGOs in Greece that support environmental protection. Although Greeks declared a high awareness and willingness to help nature, they are not familiar with a large number of environmental organisations operating in their country and in the world.
57.1 % know only one or two such organisations. 35.7 % know between three and four such institutions. Only one respondent knows more than four organisations.
This information is rather not positive, as most Greeks are probably not involved in any of them and NGOs are a key element in saving the environment.
