BackWhat people in India and the world are concerned about, according to Pew
Climate change has emerged as a major concern in India, according to the findings of a Pew Research Center survey
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Climate change has emerged as a major concern in India, according to the findings of a Pew Research Center survey measuring perceptions of international challenges released earlier this week.
As many as 73% of Indian respondents, the fourth highest after Uganda (74%), Peru (75%) and Burkina Faso (79%) told Pew that they were “very concerned" about climate change.
India is not alone in expressing its concern over an issue that will be a subject of global focus in the buildup to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in December.
Respondents from a majority of Latin American and African countries cited climate change as their biggest worry at the moment.
Nearly half—19—of the 40 countries surveyed by Pew cited global climate change as their primary concern, ahead of the Iran nuclear deal, the Islamic State (IS) terror threat, global economic instability, cyber attacks and tensions with Russia and China.
The report says, “In Peru and Brazil, where years of declining deforestation rates have slowly started to climb, fully three-quarters express anxiety about climate change."
In Asia, India leads the way, followed by the Philippines (72%). However, only 19% of respondents from China were concerned about climate change, the survey said.
In Africa, “A median of 59% say they are very concerned, including about half or more in all countries surveyed.
The other big global threat that has as many as 14 out of the 40 nations worried is the rise of the IS. Most of these nations are in Europe and the Middle East, from where many citizens have travelled over to Syria and Iraq to join IS militants. Lebanon sees the consolidation of IS as its biggest threat. In Europe, the IS is viewed as a major threat in countries like Spain (77%), France (71%), Germany (70%) and Italy (69%).
Besides European and Middle Eastern countries, the perception of the ISIS as the gravest global danger extends to the United States (68%) and Canada (58%).
The report said that 41% of those surveyed from India were very concerned about the IS.
Climate change and ISIS aside, global economic instability, given the recent situation in first Greece and later China, is cited as a top concern in five countries, mostly in Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe, including Russia and Ukraine. Nearly half the respondents in India (49%) rated global economic instability as their biggest worry.
The historic nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, which was struck this week wasn’t seen as much of a threat except, expectedly, in Israel, where more than half of those surveyed (53%) spoke of their worry. Iran’s nuclear deal came in for some strong condemnation from Israel, whose prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it as a “historic mistake for the world."
India, with much to gain from the Iran deal, has only 28% respondents perceiving Tuesday’s developments as a threat.
The Pew Research Center survey was conducted in 40 countries among 45,435 respondents between 25 March and 27 May, 2015.
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