SOM/La Presse survey | The environmental efforts of Quebecers “fairly limited”

Reduction of food waste, meat consumption or automobile use: what behaviors have Quebecers adopted to limit global warming? Although a majority of them say they are “extremely”, “very” and “fairly” respectful of the environment, the actions most often made are not, generally, those which have the most impact, shows a SOM/ surveyThe Press.

During the months of April and May, the research firm SOM asked a web panel of 1,234 Quebecers to identify the actions they had taken over the last 12 months to reduce their energy consumption or to limit the effects of climate change. Seventeen gestures were suggested, randomly. At the top of the list of results: paying particular attention to food waste (65% of respondents), composting as much food waste as possible (55%) and reducing the use of plastic (53%). This is followed by choosing LED bulbs (47%), washing in cold water (47%) and buying local food or products (39%).

“We see that what is easy and inexpensive is what Quebecers have adopted the most,” notes the vice-president of marketing at SOM, Vincent Bouchard. The first five are very easy actions to take. »

Behaviors that require a more profound change in lifestyle habits, such as reducing the use of gasoline cars and eating less meat, arrive in the middle of the pack (36% and 26% respectively). Furthermore, 12% of respondents said they had reduced their air travel. It should be noted that the survey did not assess to what extent this reduction actually took place.

“The results show that gasoline cars are still very much anchored in our habits,” observes Mr. Bouchard. The price of electric cars is high, with subsidies falling. It also touches on very ingrained behavior. » However, road transport represents more than a third of the province’s greenhouse gas emissions and constitutes one of the priority sectors for action in the fight against global warming.

According to Équiterre’s executive director, Colleen Thorpe, it is crucial that systemic measures are put in place by governments to facilitate individual changes. She cites as an example the establishment of royalty-rebate programs, commonly called “bonus-malus”. “Awareness-raising actions have more impact when they are accompanied by measures and incentives that ensure that we understand, in our portfolio, that doing the right thing is rewarded and doing the opposite is punished . »

Brakes to action

The higher cost of environmentally friendly products is the barrier to adopting more eco-responsible behaviors most cited by survey respondents (63%). The absence of legislation (30%) and the absence of subsidies (28%) affect the 5^e and 6^e ranks, behind the difficulty in identifying the best choices (41%), the impression that the impact will be minimal (41%) and practical reasons (36%).

“This is an encouraging result because, sometimes, we do not understand the role of legislation in helping us achieve climate transformation,” underlines Colleen Thorpe. Although afterwards, when the government comes with legislation, people can sometimes respond differently because they are unhappy with the legislation. »

For her, the greatest impact that an individual can have on climate change is to vote for parties that place this issue at the heart of their priorities, an aspect that was not evaluated by the survey since it there were no general elections in Quebec during the period in question.

The majority of the 380 scientists who contributed to the IPCC reports, recently surveyed by the British daily The Guardian, also believe that real citizen power is exercised at the ballot box^⁠1. Reducing the frequency of plane flights and the use of modes of transport using fossil fuels, eating less meat and reducing GHG emissions linked to heating and air conditioning in one’s home are the other priority actions cited by scientists.

“For me, the first possible action is collective action,” says Colleen Thorpe. Afterwards, the individual actions that follow closely are our mobility choices, what we put on the plate and our consumption choices in general. [ce qui inclut la consommation d’énergie]. » That food waste is the behavior most cited by survey respondents delights her, since it is an action accessible to everyone which can have a great effect. Around 29.5% of the carbon footprint of a Quebecer’s plate is attributable to food waste, according to data published in 2020 by CIRAIG and PolyCarbone. Rest, according to M^me Thorpe, to apply this anti-waste lens to other spheres of daily life.

The study was carried out online from April 22 to May 7, 2024 with a sample of 1,234 Quebec adults registered with the SOM internet users panel. The results were weighted to reflect the main sociodemographic characteristics of Quebec adults. The maximum margin of error is +/-4.2%, 19 times out of 20.

1. Read the article from Guardian (in English)

Other elements of the survey

Bad report for governments

Quebecers judge businesses and governments harshly on their environmental record. Thus, 48% of survey respondents describe the environmental record of companies as “mediocre or bad”, while 39% find it fair. The government report card is not much better: 40% consider their record “mediocre or bad” and 42% consider it fair. How do citizens view themselves? In total, 28% of respondents gave individuals a “poor or poor” environmental record, half (50%), a “fair” record, and 21% rated it as “good” or even “very good”.

Limited actions for half of Quebecers

Of the 18 suggested behaviors, 15% of respondents only adopted two or fewer in the 12 months preceding the survey, while 32% only did between 3 and 6 of these actions. “Half of Quebecers make quite limited efforts,” summarizes Vincent Bouchard, vice-president of marketing at SOM. On the other hand, 14% of respondents made more than half of the gestures named. While the results do not reveal any major gap between the different age groups, we see that men are a little more inclined to inaction; 20% of them made two gestures or less, compared to 10% of women.

The drop in the ocean

The impression that the impact of their actions will be minimal slows 41% of Quebecers from adopting more environmentally friendly behaviors. It is true that individual action has its limits and that, according to experts, significant structural changes are necessary in the context of the climate emergency. “Individual action is a springboard for collective action,” nevertheless thinks the general director of Équiterre, Colleen Thorpe. “One cannot go without the other for real in-depth changes and to get everyone on board, but unfortunately, sometimes, it can be two solitudes. » Thus, an individual gesture that is not linked to a broader social involvement will actually have less impact, she specifies.