Poles ready for sacrifices to fight climate change: survey

(AFP PHOTO/JOE KLAMAR)

A 69-percent majority of Poles believe combating climate change is essential, even at the price of slowed economic growth, according to a survey published Monday.

The survey by the TSN OBOP independent polling agency showed that 96 percent of Poles also believe that green energy technology and renewable energy resources must be developed in Poland.

A 2004 EU entrant of 38 million people, Poland is almost entirely reliant on coal for electricity and heat.

Some 67 percent of those surveyed said they were prepared to pay more for green energy, according to the results of the survey conducted by the agency on November 23-24 on a random representative sample of 1,000 adult Poles.

Some 84 percent believed climate change constituted a real danger which must be countered.

However, just days ahead of the December 7 kick-off of the United Nations conference on climate change in Copenhagen, only 37 percent said they had heard of the meeting, which aims to agree a global strategy to curb greenhouse gas emissions.