Ile-de-France residents and the wealthiest are those who support environmental measures the most, according to a study

“Environmental problems appear to be one of the major concerns of the French”, confirmed this Tuesday the annual opinion barometer of the Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (DREES), the statistical service of the Ministry of Health.

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However, the study conducted among 4,000 people aged 18 and over reveals that to fight against climate change, Ile-de-France residents and the most socially advantaged people support environmental measures more than other social categories and that residents of rural communities.

“Income and place of residence are two factors that affect the degree of acceptability of environmental measures”, writes the DREES in its study. Indeed, according to this, 57% of Ile-de-France residents say they are in favor of increasing the carbon tax, against 20% of residents of rural municipalities and nearly a third of residents of other urban units.

The environment, the second concern of the French

Among executives, 47% are in favor of it compared to 35% for all respondents. Overall, measures that aim to adopt low-carbon lifestyles, but which have immediate negative effects on purchasing power and which affect daily “meet less support”.

The measures proposed to deal with climate change are therefore not unanimously accepted, whereas in this 2022 DREES opinion barometer, this “environmental concern” is widely shared. 84% of French people questioned say they are, in fact, “concerned” about “environmental issues”. It is even their second concern, behind the level of salary and purchasing power (91%) and ahead of poverty (83%), the future of the pension system (80%), and sexism and violence made to women (78%). In this study, insecurity comes in 14th place of concern, shared by 44% of those questioned.