The Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) has unveiled the results of a major three-year Environment Awareness and Behaviour Survey. Around 2,000 male and female residents from across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and from all walks of life were surveyed, comprising a broad mix of nationalities, ages and geographic location within the Emirate.
EAD has conducted this survey over three years to track and monitor public awareness and behaviour levels, to understand people's attitudes and beliefs, as well as what motivates them to live and work in a sustainable way. Amongst the survey's key findings is the revelation that: • In terms of environmental awareness, there has been a steady increase over the last 3 years, from 49% to 58.5%. There has also been an increase in positive behaviour, but to a lesser degree, rising from 43.9% in 2008 to 45.7% in 2010. • There has been a significant increase in the number of people who feel that individuals share responsibility for protecting Abu Dhabi's environment, from 35% to 76% in the space of a year. • Residents and businesses alike want more guidance and help from the government, including education and awareness campaigns, and clear regulations and guidelines. The Survey find that residents and businesses in Abu Dhabi are becoming more environmentally-conscious: • More people said they were taking action to save energy: 40.6% are turning off lights and ACs when no longer needed, and 37.7% said they turned off TVs and DVDs. • More and more businesses are adopting environmental policies, and there has been a major increase in the number of companies turning off computers at the end of the day to save energy, from 59% to 90.1%. There was also a significant increase in the number that has adopted initiatives to save paper, from 18% to 62.7%. • More than one in four residents (26.6%) are taking active steps to reduce their consumption of plastic bags either all or most of the time, compared to only one in almost seven people a year ago. • One in four residents is actively buying environmentally-friendly products to use at home either all or most of the time, compared to only 8.3% this time last year - a large increase in environmentally-conscious purchasing behaviour. • On the downside, fewer people than before believe car use is a serious issue, 22% in 2010 compared to 31.1% in 2009. 45.3% of people also said they took long showers (longer than 10 minutes) most or all of the time - an increase from the previous year. Two thirds (66%) of residents believe that the government's involvement and support in environmental protection is vital, an increase of 12% (up from 54%) in 2009. People in Abu Dhabi believe that increasing the cost of utilities could be an effective way to reduce wasteful consumption of both energy and water. 39.5% of respondents thought that increasing the cost of energy would be the most effective way to encourage a reduction in consumption, while 47% - almost one in two people - thought that if water charges were doubled it would decrease consumption by 5-25%. Water is one of the key environmental issues in Abu Dhabi, and people are doing more to use it wisely: • Fewer members of the public leave their tap open while brushing their teeth. • The majority of residents said they were willing to use a bucket of water to wash their car in order to save water. • 26.86% of residents said they were willing to use less water at home (a large increase compared to 10.2% in 2009). There were also some significant findings regarding energy use: • 80.2% of residents said they were willing to use less air-conditioning at home (compared to 76.9% in 2009). • 91.2% of residents said they were willing to switch to low-energy light bulbs at home, or to at least consider doing so. • 37.7% of us now turn off our televisions and DVDs every time we have finished watching them, compared to 14.1% in 2009. Releasing the survey findings, the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi said although the level of environmental awareness has risen rapidly over the past 3 years, more needed to be done to support changes in behaviour. According to the survey: • A third of the Emirate's population still usually or always keeps the tap running while we brush our teeth. • Almost half of us admit to taking long showers often or most of the time. • More than one in seven residents never switches off their air-conditioning, even in winter. • 13.9% said they would reduce their car use, down from 33.6% over the same period. The survey revealed the public's growing understanding of EAD's role as a government organisation responsible for environmental protection and enforcing environmental regulations. 70% of those aware of EAD's work rated it as either 'good' or 'excellent.'
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