seven out of ten French people feel it in their daily lives, four out of ten have already thought about moving, according to a survey

Seven out of ten French people (71%) say they feel climate change in their daily lives. This is what emerges from the barometer of the Foundation for Nature and Man carried out with Odoxa on the ecological mood of the French people published on Tuesday 27 June.

This feeling is even higher among young people under the age of 35. 77% of them feel it in their daily lives. No region is spared. The inhabitants of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur are those who are the most sensitive to it, at 77%. This impression concerns three quarters of the inhabitants of Brittany in Occitanie, and more than two thirds of the residents of the regions of the Grand Est in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Ile-de-France residents are in the national average (70%), when 69% of the inhabitants of Hauts-de-France feel this climate change. Note that it is in Normandy where this feeling is weakest: 52%.

Consequence of global warming: four out of ten French people (42%) have already thought about changing their place of residence. A third (34%) want to flee because of pollution. A quarter (26%) want to move to a less dangerous area, and the same proportion (26%) to an area less prone to lack of water.

No more “made in France” purchases

Faced with climate change and its consequences, a third of respondents (35%) feel powerless. 30% are anxious. Note that only 9% of respondents remain optimistic, women being half as optimistic as men.

Despite everything, the French remain very active. According to this survey, 77% say they have changed their lifestyle in recent years in order to preserve biodiversity and the climate. The main action implemented by the people questioned is the fact of no longer taking the plane except in case of absolute necessity (58%), knowing that only 11% of French people are led to take the plane several times a year. .

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The French also claim to buy mainly products “made in France” (56%) and have halved their consumption of meat and fish (52%). The French also say they are ready to participate in plantation projects to bring nature back to their town (39%) or to invest most of their savings in sustainable products (34%).

Efforts to be better distributed?

It is mainly the future of their children or future generations that motivates the French to act for the climate, for 42% of them, in front of the desire to stay in good health and to have a healthier life ( 31%). 24% admit to being afraid of climatic disasters. And to maintain this motivation, respondents rely on scientists, 37%, farmers or breeders (34%) or environmental associations (31%).

But if the desire to act is there, the means are not necessarily there. One out of two French people (52%) feels that they do not have the financial capacity to act at their level. 45% of respondents want efforts to be better distributed among all members of society and that this does not have an economic impact on them and their household (37%).

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Finally, according to this survey, to fight against climate change, the French favor the greening of public spaces (61%). Support for local agriculture that respects the environment and the climate is welcomed by 58% of respondents. And 57% support local agriculture that respects the environment and the climate. On the other hand, the French are 64% to judge that we do not sufficiently prohibit new large commercial areas on the outskirts of cities. And 52% find that their region does not do enough to renovate old buildings.

This barometer of the Foundation for Nature and Man on the ecological mood of the French was carried out by Odoxa via the Internet from May 16 to 24, 2023, on a sample of 3,015 French people representative of the French population aged 18 and over. more.