18 May 2021
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2 min read
Consumers are increasinly seaking out low carbon and minimal damage to our Natural England
Global study analysed search terms and green campaign signatures online and on social media
Public concern over the decline in nature has seen a "dramatic rise" around the world over the past five years, triggering rapidly growing consumer demand for more sustainable products, particularly in high income countries, according to research commissioned by WWF.
The research carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit analysed measures, awareness, and action in support of nature in 27 languages across 54 countries globally, covering around 80 per cent of the population. It revealed what WWF described as an "eco-awakening" among the public.
The study looked at a range of factors including Google search trends, Twitter mentions, and the popularity of green campaigns on the Avaaz website, which EIU said found evidence of significant shifts in behaviour with consumers increasingly demanding solutions to damaging nature and biodiversity loss.
Overall public interest in nature, as measured by the report, has risen 16 per cent in the past five years and has continued to grow during the Covid-19 pandemic, with mentions of nature loss and biodiversity across Twitter having increased by 65 per cent from 30 million in 2016 to 50 million last year, WWF said.
The UK in particular has been at the forefront of the trend, with mentions of nature concern on Twitter having risen 206 per cent over the past five years, reaching more than 2.6 million in 2020, the research shows. Meanwhile, Briton's have also contributed 11.5 million signatures to the total 159 million collected globally for biodiversity-related campaigns during the same timeframe.
Globally, the research found a 71 per cent rise in popularity of searches for sustainable goods between 2016 to 2020, with consumers increasingly using terms such as 'sustainable', 'ecological', and 'biodegradable' when shopping online. In the UK, meanwhile, the number of searches for green goods rose a massive 800 per cent during the same time period, according to WWF.
A similar trend was seen in the press, with online news articles about biodiversity and nature loss growing 19 per cent worldwide over the past five years, while in the UK the figure more than doubled, rising by 105 per cent, with over 570,000 articles on nature-related topics published in 2020.
Kate Norgrove, WWF's executive director of advocacy and campaigns, said growing public sentiment surrounding climate and environmental issues demonstrated that these issues could "no longer be ignored".
"Global concern for the future of our planet is not just about saving individual species or landscapes - it's about our very survival," she said. "Loss of nature is increasing our vulnerability to pandemics, undermining efforts to tackle the climate crisis, and threatening livelihoods."
She added: "This research shows that 92 per cent of UK respondents believe that nature loss is a cause for global concern, and as hosts of the critical climate COP in Glasgow this year, the UK government has a momentous opportunity to embrace this overwhelming 'eco-wakening', and show global leadership by putting nature at the heart of its plans to tackle climate change and limit warming to 1.5C."
