The level of awareness of Russians concerning the environmental situation in their communities is extremely low. At the same time, 80% of respondents express their interest to know more about it.
MOSCOW, October 1, 2015. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the results of the survey describing Russian assessments regarding the environmental situation and their interest in this topic.
Russians are divided in their opinions concerning the level of availability of the environmental information. One-third of them (32%) say that any information can be easily accessed (41% of residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg; 29% of rural area residents); one-third (33%) say that information is hardly available or even lacking. A further 29% say that they are not interested in this matter.
Generally, Russians express their inertest in environmental state in their communities: an overwhelming majority of them (86%) would like to get this sort of information (including 51% of those who are “very interested”). People also want to know more about the state of environment in their city, region, krai or republic (84%). Fewer Russians show interest in data concerning the environmental situation in Russia in comparison with other states (71%); 29% are very interested to see these figures.
Most of Russians would like to know information about water (59% of respondents are interested) and air pollution (54%). Russians are also anxious about landfills (40%) and soil pollution (32%). Thirty-four percent of respondents want to know about the radiation levels. Least important information refers to natural resources and subsoil water (only 6% of respondents).
The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted September 5-6, 2015; 1600 respondents were interviewed in 132 settlements in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.5%.
In your opinion, is the information about the state of environment in your pace of residence available today? (closed-ended question, one answer, %) | |||||||
| Total respondents | Moscow and St.Petersburg | Million cities | More than 500 ths | 100–500 ths | Less than 100 ths | Rural area |
Completely available | 12 | 14 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 15 | 10 |
Rather available | 20 | 27 | 22 | 23 | 19 | 17 | 19 |
Rather unavailable | 14 | 16 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 12 |
Unavailable | 19 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 21 | 18 | 22 |
I do not look for this kind of information | 29 | 26 | 26 | 31 | 30 | 28 | 31 |
Don`t know | 6 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 5 |
How interested are you in getting information about the state of environment …? (за closed-ended question, one answer per each line, %) | |||||
| Very much | Likely interested | Unlikely interested | Absolutely not interested | Don`t know |
In your place of residence / community | 51 | 35 | 5 | 6 | 3 |
In your region/republic/krai/city | 41 | 43 | 6 | 7 | 3 |
In Russia compared with other states | 29 | 43 | 12 | 12 | 4 |
What kind of information about environment are you interested in? Choose not more than five answers. Are you interested to know about…? (closed-ended question, not more than 5 answers, %) | |
| Total respondents |
Water pollution | 59 |
Air pollution | 54 |
Landfills | 40 |
Radiation level intensity | 34 |
Soil pollution | 32 |
Deforestation, forest disease, forest fires | 27 |
Factories, plants that have negative impact on environment | 26 |
Fauna | 20 |
Fish in reservoirs | 19 |
Reserves, natural and national parks | 14 |
Natural resources and subsoil water | 6 |
I am not interested in environment information / nothing | 11 |
Other | 1 |
Don`t know | 3 |
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