A press release published by the European Commission (EC) on March 3, 2020 announced the release of the latest Eurobarometer survey report finding that “most Europeans are worried about the impact of chemicals present in everyday products.” Conducted in December 2019, the survey questioned over 27,000 EU respondents from different social and demographic groups about their attitude on the environment, environmental issues, and the role of the EU in environmental protection. Regarding chemicals, 90% agreed that they are worried about the impact of chemicals on the environment, and 85% share this concern also for the impact chemicals have on human health. Citizens in Cyprus, Portugal, Spain, Greece, and Malta reported the highest levels of concern.
To address these and other environmental concerns, respondents most often said that society should “change the way we consume” and “change the way we produce and trade.” 80% of respondents said that large corporations and industry are not doing enough to protect the environment, and 67% think that citizens themselves are not doing enough. These results are almost identical to those from the 2017 version of the survey. Other topics covered by the survey include views on the impacts of plastic products and reducing plastic waste and littering, the preferred regulatory level for decision making, and general attitudes related to sources of information about the environment.
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EC (March 3, 2020). “New Eurobarometer Survey: Protecting the environment and climate is important for over 90% of European citizens.”
EC (March 3, 2020). “Attitudes of European citizens towards the Environment.”
Chemical Watch (March 5, 2020). “Impact of chemicals still a worry for majority of EU citizens.”
Jack Hunter (March 26, 2020). “What Europe thinks of the environment in 22 fascinating graphs.” European Environmental Bureau
