Saudis eager for lifestyle changes to save planet

RIYADH — In the run up to the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) which began in Paris this week, new research findings from YouGov show that almost a third (31%) of residents in Saudi Arabia believe planet earth is already in serious danger and by the time their children grow it will be a disaster. However, 27% believe the danger isn’t as bad as people think and another 27% think it’s fine and it will fix itself as it has done for millions of years. The study demonstrates that the majority of respondents in Saudi Arabia are generally concerned about the environment and the effects of climate change (68%). A third claim global warming is a ‘very serious problem’ whilst 35% believe the problem is ‘somewhat serious’. The study shows that respondents do realize the benefit of taking certain actions to help the environment. The study reveals residents in Saudi Arabia also embrace their role in helping to combat climate change by implementing certain lifestyle changes. Residents were most enthusiastic about adopting: 1. Power saving techniques, such as switching off the lights when not in use (61%) 2. Consciously lowering their household water consumption (43%) 3. Unplugging electronics when not in use (41%) In addition, to help the environment, 33% of respondents claim they usually keep their air conditioning on a constant temperature as a measure to help the environment. Positively, respondents tend to be open to changing their habits in the future. The top three most favored approaches were:

• Growing their own food (40%)
• Recycling materials (36%)
• Keeping a personal record of their household energy and water consumption to monitor changes (34%)

Overall a quarter of residents are very positive that their government is doing a lot to tackle global warming problems and 14% believe they are getting the balance right. However, 36% believe the government could do more, whilst another quarter (25%) claim they don’t know.