The Covid-19 pandemic has created rifts in people's approach towards climate change. A recent study held by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) on the Spanish community revealed that a majority of the population is pessimistic about their approach towards climate change.
In the online survey led by economist Jeroen van den Bergh, only 15 people of the population were optimistic about improved environmental concerns post-pandemic. According to them, the pandemic has been a wake-up call for many who were ignorant of their lifestyle patterns. Now they are more careful in consumption, the optimists said.
According to the pessimists, health, and economic crisis have made people divert their attention from the environment. Increased use of disposable masks, gloves, and other protective gears have also contributed to the climate crisis.
At the same time, around 8.2 per cent of the Spanish population said that there is no significant relationship between Covid 19 and climate change.
"We found that expectations of future climate actions by the government and the people tend to strongly correlate. Also, those most optimistic about future climate action tend to be younger, male, better educated, with a stronger perception of climate change as a serious threat and a more positive experience with COVID-19 confinement," said Ivan Savin, lead author of the study.