October 25, 2023
For the seventh year in a row Edmontonians have shared their concern about climate change and desire for the City to do more. Over 1,000 residents participated in the annual Climate Change and Energy Perception survey that covered topics ranging from climate change awareness to knowledge of mitigation measures such as solar panels, hydrogen, electric vehicles and more.
“The results of this year's survey show awareness of climate change is growing,” said Chandra Tomaras, Director of Environment and Climate Resilience for Urban Planning and Economy. “The vivid examples of climate change we are experiencing such as the wildfires across our province this year are underscoring the message that climate change is real and we need to do more.”
In addition to climate issues, the survey found that two-thirds of Edmontonians recognize the economic opportunity presented by climate change and energy transition as the city continues to move toward becoming a net zero greenhouse gas emitter.
“Programs such as the Clean Energy Improvement Program highlight the City’s commitment to meeting our target of being a net zero city by 2050,” said Kim Petrin, Acting Deputy City Manager for Urban Planning and Economy. “These programs help incentivize residents to make their homes more energy efficient while also helping to ignite the building retrofit industry providing jobs and business opportunities for Edmontonians.”
Survey results this year found that nearly three-quarters of Edmontonians are concerned about climate change, believe we need to act now to address climate change and believe that climate change is mostly caused by human activities.
Since 2017, the Climate and Energy Perceptions Survey has helped the City of Edmonton benchmark attitudes and beliefs on climate and energy transition in order to inform and measure the effectiveness of policies and programs. The 2023 Climate Perception Survey was conducted by Narrative Research between June 26 - July 10, 2023 and had a sample of 1,004 Edmontonians. Full results are now available to the City of Edmonton’s
website.
