Canberra [Australia], September 13: Almost half of Australians think the federal government is not doing enough to prepare for, or adapt to, the impacts of climate change, while a majority support the polluter tax for businesses, a poll has found.
Canberra-based think tank The Australia Institute on Wednesday published the results of its 16th annual Climate of the Nation survey.
It found that 47 percent of voters said the government was not doing enough on the climate crisis while only 26 percent said the government was doing enough.
Among respondents who identified themselves as supporters of the governing Labor Party, 52 percent said the government should be doing more to prepare for the impacts of climate-related extreme events.
Overall, the survey found that Australians' concern over climate change has fallen, with 71 percent of respondents saying they were fairly or very concerned compared to 75 percent in 2022.
Seventy-seven percent said they believed climate change was occurring, down from 80 percent in 2022, and the proportion who said they believed climate change was causing the polar ice caps to melt fell from 54 percent in 2022 to 46 percent in 2023.
According to the report, 74 percent of participants in the survey said they would support the government introducing a "polluter pays" tax applied to businesses based on their greenhouse gas emissions and 59 percent supported a levy on fossil fuel exports to fund climate adaptation measures.
"Australians want those who are profiting from the climate crisis to pay for the damage they are causing," Polly Hemming, the Climate and Energy Program Director at The Australia Institute, said in a media release on Wednesday.
"Climate of the Nation 2023 comes at a time when Australians are facing unprecedented challenges on multiple fronts, most notably from the cost-of-living crisis. Despite these pressures, a strong majority of Australians want more ambitious climate action."
Source: Xinhua