As global business leaders, policymakers, and civil society representatives gather in Cali, Colombia (October 21 to November 1, 2024) for the 2024 United Nations Biodiversity Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16), our latest Radar global public opinion polling results highlight the particularly high level of concern about biodiversity loss among respondents in the Latin American countries surveyed – especially in Colombia.
GlobeScan’s recent data show that nearly eight in ten people in Latin America believe that the loss of animal and plant species is a “very serious” problem compared to just over half in North America (USA and Canada) and nearly six in ten in Europe as well as in Africa and the Middle East, while only four in ten in Asia-Pacific say that biodiversity loss is of great concern to them. Colombians are the most concerned of the 31 countries and territories surveyed, with 82 percent calling the loss of animal and plant species “very serious,” followed by Mexicans at 80 percent.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Colombia is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, where deforestation and other threats to its biodiversity are linked to increases in social inequality, internal armed conflict, and the illegal drug trade, among other issues. As with climate change, these results again show that those who are more vulnerable to its effects also tend to express the most concern.
Based on a largely representative online survey of over 30,000 people across 31 countries and territories, Radar draws upon GlobeScan’s unique database of over two decades of polling public opinion about people’s outlook toward societal actors and the issues affecting them.
Survey Question: For each of the following possible global problems, please indicate if you see it as a very serious, somewhat serious, not very serious, or not at all serious problem. – The loss of animal and plant species
Source: GlobeScan Radar Trends Report (survey of 30,216 people in the general public in July ‒ August 2024)
