Epson survey reveals climate awareness, attitudes and action in Europe and Africa – with businesses emerging as key climate influencers

Epson survey reveals climate awareness, attitudes and action in Europe and Africa – with businesses emerging as key climate influencers

·Epson’s 2022 Climate Reality Barometer shows that 64% of Africans are positive about solving climate change, compared to just 26% of Europeans

·Despite a crowded and complex global news agenda, the climate crisis is a key concern for over one in five globally

·Company and community education programmes inform and inspire three quarters of Africans and over half of Europeans to make climate-positive lifestyle decisions

Twenty days out from Egypt’s COP27, Epson reveals insights from its 2022 Climate Reality Barometer – a survey of more than 26,000 people across 28 global markets. Findings show increasing yet varied levels of climate optimism, that climate change remains front of mind for millions and that businesses play a powerful role in informing and inspiring people to enact change.

The Epson Climate Reality Barometer  captures awareness, attitudes and actions associated with climate change - to support better governmental, industry and individual decision-making. Its findings underline the importance of industry-led education – providing the information and tools needed to tackle the crisis.

Climate remains front of mind

Despite a crowded and complex news agenda, climate change remains a primary concern for millions of people around the world. Unsurprisingly, economics (22%) and rising prices (21%) claim the global top spots in terms of people’s primary focus: yet the climate emergency is still front of mind for 20% of all respondents.

In Europe, optimism that the climate crisis will be solved in a lifetime is shared by just one in four respondents (26%) – perhaps driven by a year of unprecedented climate events across the continent. This contrasts with a 48% global average and an even greater 64% who cite climate optimism in Africa – perhaps the result of long-term familiarity with climate impacts.

Enriching education through technology

The data reveals that businesses play a powerful role in raising awareness of climate change. In Africa 75%, and in Europe 55%, of respondents cite company and community sustainability initiatives as influential on climate attitudes and actions.

These education initiatives are inspiring climate-positive lifestyle decisions around, for example: renewable energy - 89% of Africans and 80% of Europeans have or plan to switch; and business/leisure travel - 67% of Africans and 64% of Europeans have or plan to reduce their use.

Epson’s Director of Sustainability, Henning Ohlsson, said: “We see education as one of the most powerful weapons to combat the climate emergency. Epson’s aim is to enrich education through technology and provide governments, businesses and individuals with greater understanding of climate impacts – and the tools to mitigate them. We’re excited to join with the global community at COP27 in Egypt and take part in the conversations that will drive meaningful action.”

In Europe, Epson is raising awareness of climate change – through its New Horizons initiative. It is reaching out to around 10,000 school children to help them make sense of the events unfolding before them and the actions they can take to make a real and sustainable difference enriching education through technology.

In Africa, Epson works alongside government, industry and community partners to deliver projects that provide printing technologies, sustainable power, local skills hubs and educational materials.

• In MEA, the donation of Epson EcoTank printers allows teachers to print 11 million pages of stories to help children improve reading skills and learn about issues such as climate change.
• Working with World Mobile, Epson is combining printing technologies with global connectivity in Tanzania – to bring new opportunities to schools in Zanzibar.
• In South Africa, Epson has established a Demonstration Centre that is being used as a community resource, supporting new ways of learning, bringing new job opportunities and increasing the local economy’s talent pool.

Epson will also “show as well as tell” at COP27, providing sustainable technologies in the green zone, including heat-free printing and access to recycled paper using Epson’s PaperLab, which uses 95%* less water than traditional paper recycling. Epson will be the Green Zone on stand P42. 

“Epson’s research suggests that businesses are pivotal in helping to educate and equip the world to take effective action against climate change,”said President of Epson Europe, Yoshiro Nagafusa. “Enriching education through technology allows us to inform people, businesses and policy makers across the globe about the scale of the challenges we face, but also to bring optimism, with solutions that empower everyone to make a real and positive difference to the world’s climate.”

ENDS

Notes to editor

At Epson, we understand that the earth and its resources are precious and finite – and that climate change demands immediate and concerted action. We believe that businesses have a major role to play in coordinated global responses.

It sees:

• Epson commit €770 million to decarbonisation, closing the resource loop, and environmental technology development by 2030.
• Epson innovation create solutions that help our customers achieve circular, sustainable and net-zero operations, including Heat-Free and energy efficient printing technologies, and PaperLab, which turns wastepaper into new paper in a virtually water-free process.
• Epson attain highest scores for water security and climate preservation in the prestigious CDP A List.
• Epson achieve EcoVadis Platinum status for third consecutive year.
• Epson as a signatory to the UN Global Compact, pursuing all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.
• Epson as a committed member of the Responsible Business Alliance.

In following this path, Epson aims to inspire and empower governments, businesses and individuals to bring about the transformational change needed to tackle the climate emergency. Working together, Epson believes that we can all create a better world.

*Calculation method verified by TÜV Rheinland