EIB survey reveals Romanians have good understanding of climate change impacts and room for improvement

Romanians have some awareness of the causes and consequences of climate change, but there is still room for improvement in their knowledge of solutions, according to the sixth edition of the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) climate survey.

The survey was conducted among more than 30,000 people in 35 countries, including EU member states, the UK, the US, China, Japan, India and Canada.

To assess public understanding of climate change in Romania, the EIB Climate Survey focused on citizens’ knowledge of climate change in three key areas: definitions and causes, consequences and solutions. Participants answered 12 questions and were ranked on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 indicating the highest level of knowledge.

Romanian respondents scored 5.77/10, well below the EU average (6.37/10), according to the EIB survey. Finland topped the ranking with 7.22/10, followed by Luxembourg (7.19/10) and Sweden (6.96/10).

“Romanians are relatively aware of the causes and consequences of climate change, but they lack knowledge about the solutions. As in most EU countries, a large part of Romanian respondents do not know that reducing speed limits on roads (80%) or better insulating buildings (65%) can help combat climate change,” the survey results read.

The first sub-index of the survey concerns the definition and causes of climate change. In this area, Romanians score well below the EU average (6.83/10 compared to 7.21/10), the EIB revealed.

For example, when it came to defining climate change, most Romanian respondents (70%) selected the correct definition (“A long-term change in global climate patterns”), and only 5% think that climate change is a hoax.

At the same time, almost three-quarters (72%) of respondents are aware that the main causes of climate change are human activities such as deforestation, agriculture, industry and transport. In contrast, more than a quarter of respondents believe the opposite: 20% believe that climate change is caused by extreme natural events such as volcanic eruptions and heat waves, and 9% believe that climate change is caused by the hole in the ozone layer.

When asked about the three largest greenhouse gas emitters in the world, most Romanians (64%, 8 percentage points below the EU average) correctly chose the United States, China and India. However, more than a third (36%) of respondents chose an answer that did not include China.

Similarly, when asked about the consequences of climate change, Romanians only score 6.90/10, well below the EU average of 7.65/10.

Most (85%) of respondents rightly stated that climate change is worsening world hunger by affecting crop yields due to extreme weather conditions, and 68% know that it has a negative impact on human health. The effects of climate change on migration, with an increase in forced displacement worldwide, are evident for two-thirds (66%) of Romanian respondents.

In the last sub-index, Romanian respondents scored 3.59/10 compared to the EU average of 4.25/10, “indicating that they have significantly less knowledge about actions that can help mitigate climate change compared to the other two areas studied,” the EIB said.

“This highlights a general trend in EU countries, with most of them performing poorly in this area. This result places Romania last among the 27 EU countries,” he added.

According to the survey results, most Romanians (69%) know that using recyclable products can help mitigate climate change, while 64% also rightly said that using public transport instead of a private car is a step in the right direction. However, only a minority (35%, 9 percentage points below the EU average) seems to know that better insulation of buildings can also help.

At the same time, only a quarter of respondents (27%, 15 percentage points below the EU average) know that buying new clothes less often is another way to combat climate change. Similarly, very few respondents (20%, 6 percentage points below the EU average) seem to know that reducing speed limits on roads would help mitigate climate change. Finally, most Romanians are not aware of the significant CO2 emissions linked to digital use, with only 6% saying that watching fewer videos online could also help.

Moreover, according to the same source, as in most European countries, only a minority of Romanians (34%) were able to correctly define an individual’s carbon footprint as “the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions emitted by a person in one year.”

The EIB supports climate change projects in Romania through investment. Under the InvestEU initiative, the EIB signed a €40 million loan with Eldrive to expand electric vehicle charging networks, including over 8,400 new stations in Eastern Europe. Also in Romania, the P3 Rooftop Solar PV green loan provides €3 million for rooftop photovoltaic installations at logistics centres to generate clean solar electricity, reduce carbon emissions and support national and European climate targets for 2030.

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