67% believe climate change poses a severe
threat and 53% want the Alberta
government to do more about it
EDMONTON, AB, July 4, 2024
/CNW/ -- Deep Sky, the Canadian carbon removal project developer,
commissioned a public opinion survey conducted by Pollara
Strategic Insights that polled 1,200 Albertans on climate change.
The findings show overwhelming concern about impacts, support for
stronger government action, and a desire to see Canada lead in carbon removal solutions to
address the climate emergency.
There is a growing sense of urgency among Albertans to address
climate change. Two-thirds (67%) of Albertans believe climate
change poses a severe threat to the planet and 53% want the
Alberta provincial government to
do more to fight climate change. Meanwhile, 61% believe energy
companies and 58% believe businesses should do more.
Albertans are especially worried about natural disasters caused
by climate change (77%), the impact on insurance rates (79%), the
impact for the next generation (74%), food shortages (74%),
negative health impacts (69%), and causing wars and refugees as
people flee land made unlivable by climate change (65%). In fact,
51% have experienced the effects of climate change firsthand. Just
31% feel Alberta is a world leader
in fighting climate change, while 55% feel it can be a world
leader.
There is majority agreement that Canada should use carbon removal technology to
help fight climate change in Calgary (67%) and Edmonton (57%), with more than half (51%) of
those elsewhere in Alberta in
agreement.
A majority of Albertans (65%) want to learn more about carbon
removal, while 29% would be interested in a job in the industry.
Interest in learning more about carbon removal is similar across
age and gender groups, with university-educated Albertans (70%) and
Calgarians (72%) more interested. Men under 50 (44%), those in
Calgary (36%), and lower income
earners (36%) are most interested in working in the carbon removal
industry.
"Albertans have spoken, and it's clear they want Alberta to lead the way in Canada's decarbonization," said Deep Sky CEO,
Damien Steel. "Carbon removals present a unique opportunity
for Alberta to pioneer this
emerging industry, while reaping the economic rewards and producing
green jobs."
Support for the Alberta
government making investments in carbon removal technology cuts
across all partisan lines provincially. The findings show 69%
overall support from all Albertans, which includes 79% among NDP
voters and 61% among United Conservative Party voters. At the
federal level, support for the federal government investing in
carbon removal is 67% overall, 82% among NDP voters, 80% among
Liberal voters, and 58% among Conservatives.
The full survey findings can be found here.
Methodology
Findings come from an online survey of a randomly-selected sample
of 1,200 adult (18+) Albertans, fielded by Pollara Strategic
Insights between May 1-12, 2024. The
margin of error for a sample of this size would be +/- 2.8%. Data
has been weighted using the most current language, gender, age,
& region Census data, to ensure the sample reflects the actual
population of adult Albertans.
About Deep Sky:
Montreal-based Deep Sky is the
world's first tech-agnostic carbon removal project developer aiming
to remove gigatons of carbon from the atmosphere and permanently
store it underground. As a project developer, Deep Sky brings
together the most promising direct air and ocean carbon capture
companies under one roof to bring the largest supply of high
quality carbon credits to the market and commercialize carbon
removal and storage solutions like never before. With $75M in funding, Deep Sky is backed by world
class investors including Investissement Québec, Brightspark
Ventures, Whitecap Venture Partners, OMERS Ventures, BDC Climate
Fund, and more. For more information,
visit deepskyclimate.com.
SOURCE Deep Sky