A recent study by YouGov, an international internet-based
market research firm, sheds light on the positive trend among UAE residents to
build a greener community.
The research
was conducted online by interviewing members of YouGov’s online research panel in
the MENA region, which currently has over 500,000 members across 21 countries
in MENA, as well as India and Pakistan.
The study revealed that 79 percent of UAE residents consider
themselves to be well informed on topics surrounding the environment and
eco-friendliness and only 10 percent of UAE residents think their households
are not at all eco-friendly. Of the research participants, 86 percent are
actively engaged in household water reduction activities and 64 percent say
that they will consider installing solar panels, while the majority (91 percent)
claimed that they do recycle at work when there is a system in place.
The study was conducted to assess overall environmental
awareness among UAE residents, and to discover environmental trends and
behaviors in the UAE.
“The study’s aim was to understand the UAE residents’ daily
lifestyle habits and how much they are benefiting the environment,” Lameece
Nagib, a researcher at YouGov, told Gulf News Journal. “It also tried to gauge
the level of importance UAE residents place on being eco-friendly and evaluate
if there is potential for UAE residents to achieve more in this regard.”
A representative sample of the general population in the UAE
(1,102 residents) was interviewed from the study to discover their
opinions towards green issues in their country of residence.
Nagib said that though awareness about the environment and
eco-friendliness is relatively high in the country, the study illustrates
converting this awareness into action is still a challenge — and residents tend
to consider the environment more when there is an economic benefit involved in
doing so. For example, 86 percent of UAE
residents are actively trying to reduce their household water consumption; however, the top reasons for choosing to do this is not only because they are
environmentally conscious, but also because it gives them the ability to reduce household costs.
The study also showed 65 percent of UAE residents would be
ready to shop with reusable grocery bags if supermarkets started to
charge extra to use plastic bags. And most UAE residents (64 percent) would
consider installing solar panels if the government provided monetary
compensation.
“Incentivizing the UAE population with economic benefits to
entice them to consider the environment more in their daily lifestyles could be
the catalyst to a better eco-friendly community,” Nagib said.
Overall, the research
indicates that UAE residents are engaging with messages about the environment
and have the means to stay well informed about the topic, particularly via
online sources, news and government campaigns.
‘However, despite this increased awareness and demonstrable
intentions by some to consider a better eco-friendly lifestyle, being
well informed doesn’t necessarily equate to taking action,” Nagib said. “There
are still large proportions of the community yet to be convinced to change
their environmental principles, and the study findings indicate incentives could
be the best means to engage them to do so.”
