THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
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Press release…
82 percent of Türkiye’s population is concerned that they will be personally affected by climate change…
Research conducted by the Pew Research Centre in eight middle-income countries reveals that the majority of societies believe they are affected by climate change and are willing to make changes in their lives to combat these effects. The biggest concern among the Turkish public is drought and water scarcity (75 percent).
A survey conducted by the Pew Research Centre in eight middle-income countries, including Türkiye, reveals that the majority of people in all countries believe climate change is affecting their region and are willing to make changes in their lives to mitigate its effects.
According to the survey, which was conducted face-to-face with 12,375 people in Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa, as well as Türkiye, the vast majority of participants are concerned about being personally harmed by climate change. This rate is over 80 percent in most countries and 82 percent in Türkiye.
For 75 percent of participants in the country, the greatest concern is drought and water scarcity. Assoc. Professor Dr. Başar Baysal, a lecturer in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Ankara Science University, explains this result as an increase in awareness of the effects of climate change. Baysal states that this concern is understandable, as water scarcity is directly related to food security. He adds that another striking finding in the survey is the low level of concern about heat waves.
Recalling that Türkiye has experienced widespread and large-scale fires in the last five years, Baysal attributes the fact that heat waves are not seen as a priority threat to the ‘lack of awareness of the relationship between fires and heat waves.’
Baysal points out that the research was conducted at a time when climate legislation debates were ongoing in Türkiye and climate-denying social media campaigns were intensifying. Baysal also recalls that during this period, baseless claims such as ‘we will be forced to eat artificial meat,’ ‘agricultural land will be confiscated,’ or ‘climate change is a global conspiracy’ became widespread. According to Baysal, it is possible that such disinformation may have partially influenced the survey results.
Nevertheless, Baysal emphasises that awareness of climate change is high and climate scepticism is low in all countries, including Türkiye…
