80% Indians support criminalisation of environmental damage

New Delhi: Nearly four out of five Indians support criminalising actions by government officials or leaders of large businesses that cause serious damage to nature and the climate, according to a new global survey.

The Global Commons Survey 2024, conducted by Ipsos UK and commissioned by Earth4All and the Global Commons Alliance (GCA), also revealed that nearly three out of five (61 per cent) Indians believe that the government is doing enough to tackle climate change and environmental damage.

Ninety per cent of them are worried about the state of nature today.

Seventy-three per cent of the respondents feel that the Earth is approaching critical environmental “tipping points”, where climate or natural systems, such as rainforests or glaciers, may change suddenly or be more difficult to stabilise in the future.

Fifty-seven per cent believe that new technologies can resolve environmental issues without requiring significant changes in individual lifestyles, while 54 per cent think that many claims about environmental threats are exaggerated.

Nearly four out of five Indians believe that human health and well-being are closely connected to the health and well-being of nature. Seventy-seven per cent of the respondents said that nature is already too damaged to meet human needs in the long term.

The survey included responses from 1,000 participants aged 18 to 75 across 18 G20 countries — Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States – and four non-G20 countries — Austria, Denmark, Kenya and Sweden.

The survey follows recent landmark legislative changes, including Belgium’s recognition of ecocide as a federal crime earlier this year. Similar laws have been enacted in Chile and France, and ecocide bills have been proposed in Brazil, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru and Scotland, among other countries.