Over the past decade, environmental concern among Europeans grew, despite migration, financial crises and the COVID ‑ 19 pandemic – rising to become the third most important issue after health and the economy. Over the same period, climate change moved from being one of many problems to the most important environmental issue in Europe.
These and other insights into European environmental attitudes are analysed in detail in a new monograph , Green European Revisited , published by Palgrave Macmillan Cham. This is the second volume by the same team, again focusing on how Europeans think about environmental issues over time.
“There is a myth, which I hear time and time again, that Europe is a so-called green continent,” Professor Audronė Telešienė, a researcher at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Lithuania, the chief editor of the book , says, “whereas in reality, Europe has placed exceptionally heavy pressures on the natural environment, greater in some respects than those generated by several other continents combined. As the first continent to industrialise, it has experienced extensive and long-term ecosystem degradation.”
However, she emphasises that Europeans demonstrate leadership in implementing green policies that can help the world to deal with the climate crisis and its impacts.
Nordic Countries Are Most Concerned
In one of the chapters of the book, KTU researchers Professors Audronė Telešienė and Aistė Balžekienė analyse data on environmental attitudes in different European countries from the International Social Survey Programme ( ISSP ), comparing the 2010–2012 wave with data collected between 2020 and 2023.
“In the years between 2010 and 2020, the world has gone through several global shocks. In 2010 we were in the midst of a financial crisis, in 2015–2016 we had the migration crisis, in 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the survey data were collected after 2022, when the war in Ukraine started. We wanted to see whether these overlapping crises shifted Europeans’ attention away from the environment,” says Prof. Telešienė.
Contrary to what is often assumed, the polycrises – from finance to war – did not push the environment off the public agenda – quite the opposite. In 2010, Europeans saw the economy and health as the main challenges facing their countries; by 2020, health had become the number one (in the context of COVID), but the environment also moved up and overtook some other topics, even though one might expect it to drop off the agenda in times of crisis.
Moreover, climate change has become established as the defining issue of our era, with 30% of Europeans indicating it as the most important environmental issue (compared with 15% in 2010).
“The sharpest rise in concern about climate change was in the Nordic countries, with Iceland showing the biggest jump – from 13 to 43%. In other countries, instead of naming climate change itself, people became more worried about its direct consequences, such as heatwaves or water shortages,” says Prof. Balžekienė, Head of the KTU Civil Society and Sustainability Research Group, a co-author of the book chapter.
From Floods to Parrots in Poland
According to Prof. Balžekienė, this difference partly reflects how people understand the term itself. Climate change can be seen in a theoretical way – as a systemic, global phenomenon that may affect a country indirectly, for example through increased migration, even if there are no obvious local signs yet. It can also be understood empirically – through its concrete consequences.
“For example, heatwaves in Southern Europe attract a great deal of political and media attention. Climate change is often linked to flash floods in regions that were not historically prone to them. People also start talking about unusual phenomena, such as seeing parrots in the wild in Poland – an issue directly related to climate change,” explains Prof. Balžekienė.
In Spain, concern about water scarcity is particularly strong (almost 38% named this as the most important problem, and about 30% named climate change). In France, concern about pesticides and chemicals is particularly pronounced, while in Italy concern about air pollution stands out – which also reflects objective indicators.
“Some of the most polluted cities in Europe are in Italy, Spain is experiencing water shortage, and France is the biggest exporter of pesticides. It is a good sign that people are recognising local problems,” says Prof. Balžekienė, adding that data shows that Nordic countries, which lead in prioritising climate change as No.1 issue, are very aware of its local impacts.
Forest Fires and Heatwaves More Often Associated with Climate Change
The researchers believe several factors helped keep environmental concern high on the public agenda, even amid multiple crises. A series of major “discourse‑focusing” events – the Paris Climate Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, followed by the European Green Deal in 2019 – firmly anchored climate issues in political debates. Society-wide mobilisation, including Greta Thunberg’s activism and the Fridays for Future movement, made climate change far more visible. Finally, people increasingly began to experience the impacts of climate change firsthand.
“Forest fires, heatwaves and flash floods are more and more often associated with climate change. During the COVID‑19 pandemic, when much of the world’s economic activity paused, and short‑term environmental changes became visible, we started to see environmental issues in a new light. It made us realise that this is not only about the environment – it is about our overall safety and wellbeing,” says Prof. Telešienė.
Research shows that awareness about climate change is strongly related to education. In this respect, there is also progress – according to Prof. Balžekienė, many universities now offer study programmes and modules focused on sustainable development and environmental issues.
However, the researchers stress that awareness is only the first step and does not automatically lead to action. Are we prepared to change our lifestyles, to pay higher taxes to protect the environment? Do we believe that our own choices matter? Prof. Telešienė notes that several ISSP survey questions probe exactly these issues.
“In this respect, there is no single “green Europe”. In countries such as Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany and Sweden, people have a strong sense of their power as citizens: they believe they can make a difference and are willing to change their lifestyle for environmental reasons. In contrast, in Bulgaria, Lithuania, Czechia, Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia, societies tend not to trust in their own agency and are much less willing to make personal changes,” says Telešienė.
Eastern and Central European Countries Are Not All the Same
Prof. Balžekienė notes that recognising the local impacts of climate change is one of the main drivers of pro‑environmental behaviour. It is therefore not surprising that the Nordic countries are in the lead, while many people in Central and Eastern Europe still tend to see climate change as something that happens elsewhere and expect authorities to deal with its consequences.
“I believe we need to talk much more about what climate change actually does. Agriculture, for example, is a sector that not only has to adapt, but can also reduce impacts by changing its practices. Climate change also affects human health. If we do not discuss these effects, irresponsible behaviour follows – such as older people staying outside during a heatwave,” says Balžekienė.
In the 2020 survey, several countries remained at the very bottom in terms of prioritising the environment as their country’s most important issue. Hungary (2.2%), Croatia (2.4%), Slovenia (2.6%) and Slovakia (2.8%) recorded the lowest shares of respondents naming the environment as the top national problem, with only minimal change compared to 2010.
“These countries have very small shares of people who support green policies or show awareness and understanding of environmental issues. More broadly, some of those countries are also known in Europe for challenges in democratic processes and for differing interpretations of geopolitical events. It would be very interesting to compare how similar data from these countries evolve in the future,” says Prof. Telešienė.
She adds that Eastern and Central Europe is not a single story: in countries like Lithuania and Estonia, concern about the environment has shifted from marginal to moderate levels over the past decade.
Climate Change Is Economically Damaging
Professors Telešienė and Balžekienė from KTU’s Civil Society and Sustainability Research Group also contributed to the preparation of the 7th Global Environment Outlook (GEO‑7), one of the world’s most authoritative assessments of the state of the global environment.
“GEO‑7 applies a whole-of-society approach: some solutions belong to governments (infrastructure, subsidies), some to business and industry, and some to society and scientists,” says Prof. Telešienė. “Our Green European monograph shows that European societies are aware of the environmental crisis – not everyone is ready to change their lifestyle, but there is clear potential for transformation.”
While individuals can be committed to environmental protection, many key solutions lie beyond the scope of personal choice. Charging infrastructure for electric cars or heating systems in residential buildings, for example, are not always within the control of households. At the same time, KTU researchers point out that data clearly shows climate change is economically damaging – through destroyed infrastructure, a heavier burden of illness on health systems, crop losses and other costs – which makes societal transformation not only desirable but necessary.
“Data also shows that environmental crises increase the likelihood of armed conflicts. Besides, both the war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East are, at their core, largely energy wars. The way we have organised our economies makes us dependent on fossil fuels and on specific supplier countries,” says Prof. Telešienė. “That is why I believe defence may become one of the sectors to adopt green transformation fastest – leaders in this field clearly see the strategic necessity.”