Support for world-leading action on climate change skyrockets, according to new poll

A young girl from the remote Turkana tribe in
 Northern Kenya digs a hole in a river bed
 to retrieve water. Over 23 million people across
 East Africa are facing a critical shortage of water
and food, a situation made worse by climate change. 

Public support for world-leading, federal government-level action on climate change has bounced back, according to a new poll, as people perceive environmental impacts around them and support a larger role for renewable energy production.

According to the Climate Institute's Climate of the Nation poll, 65 per cent of Australians want their country to lead the world on finding solutions, a significant increase since the time of divisive debates about the Gillard government's carbon tax.

The research, conducted by Galaxy with 2000 participants, also found 77 per cent of people now accept that global warming is happening and 60 per cent agree with the science that it is caused by human activity, both notable increases from the organisation's previous figures.

CEO John Connor says this return to public sentiment last seen strongly in 2008, when there was broader political support for strong climate change action, is a result of a combination of factors.

Read the story by Fergus Hunter in today’s Melbourne Age - “Support for world-leading action on climate change skyrockets, according to new poll.”