NORTHERN
IRELAND NOT SO GREEN - UNIVERSITIES' SURVEY
Northern
Ireland motorists are unwilling to cut back on their driving
to protect the environment, according to the results of
a survey just published.
As
London introduces congestion charges to reduce the number
of vehicles using the city, figures from the Life and
Times Survey - a joint venture by Queen's University and
the University of Ulster - show that local drivers are
more unwilling than their British counterparts to abandon
their vehicles.
Only
11% of Northern Ireland drivers 'always' or 'often' reduce
their car use for the sake of the environment compared
to 14% in Britain. And 61% of drivers in Northern Ireland
said that they never cut back on their car journeys to
make the province greener.
Paula
Devine and Katrina Lloyd, research directors of ARK, the
NI Social and Political Archive, said that the drivers'
attitudes are symptomatic of Northern Ireland views on
the environment.
They
said:
"While
there is widespread concern about threats to the environment,
especially from air pollution, pesticides and chemicals,
fewer people in Northern Ireland than in Britain are prepared
to pay higher prices or taxes or accept cuts in living
standards to protect the environment".
Other
key findings to emerge from the research include: ·
- Some
32% of Northern Ireland people say they recycle waste
'always' or 'often' compared to 51% of people in Britain
who claim to recycle regularly. ·
- Business
and industry are seen as poor protectors of the environment.
Respondents felt that both the government and people
in general made more efforts to protect the environment
than did business and industry.
- However
Northern Ireland is seen as not doing enough to protect
the environment with 41% of respondents saying it was
doing too little. More than 78% of respondents showed
some support for international agreements on environmental
controls which Northern Ireland and other countries
should be made to follow. ·
- There
is strong support for tougher legislation to force everyone,
but particularly business, to protect the environment.
The
researchers concluded:
"The
overall message is that the public of Northern Ireland
is not environmentally active. This is a message that
both government agencies and environmental pressure groups
should take on board".
