Japanese Government Releases Results of Survey on a Low-Carbon Society

The Japanese government's Cabinet Office released the results of a special survey on July 3, 2008, on what people know and think about a low carbon society (LCS). Of those surveyed, 32.7 percent said they knew what an LCS is. In response to a question asking if it was important to realize an LCS should, 90.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed. A total of 3,000 adults were targeted to be interviewed individually for the nationwide survey at the end of May, with a valid response rate of 61.2.

In answer to a question of what respondents thought living in an LCS would be like, 41.4 percent said they thought it would be possible to keep living an affluent life due to advances in technical innovation, while 31.7 percent said it would be impossible to maintain an affluent life because of the need to cut back on consumption.

Respondents (multiple answers allowed) said that important actions for realizing an LCS included "introduction of energy efficient electronic appliances/housing and environmentally friendly vehicles" (68.4 percent), "effective utilization of resources such as by recycling and less use of plastic bags" (65.9 percent), and "use of renewable energy such as photovoltaic and wind power" (61.5 percent).

When asked how much they could bear in their household budgets concerning the creation of an LCS, about 80 percent answered "under 2,000 yen (US$19) a month per family," which included some that said they didn't want to bear any cost at all. As for their views on emission reductions in Japan and overseas, 30.0 percent said that developed countries should reduce greenhouse gas emissions more than developing countries, and 28.9 percent said that all countries should reduce greenhouse gas emissions at an equal rate.

- Japanese Cabinet Office official website
http://www.cao.go.jp/index-e.html

Posted: 2008/12/16 06:48:44 AM