May 31st, 2008
India Most Green, USA Least Green in National Geographic/ GlobeScan Greendex Survey
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India (along with Brazil) has emerged as the most green country and USA as the least green country in the National Geographic/ GlobeScan Greendex Survey of 14,000 consumers in a total of 14 countries.
The survey included questions on sustainable consumption behavior like energy use and conservation, transportation choices, food sources, the relative use of green products versus traditional products, attitudes towards the environment and sustainability, and knowledge of environmental issues.
The Greendex study is especially interesting to me because it is focused on the environmental sustainability of our actual behavior and material lifestyles as consumers, instead of our attitudes and concerns about the environment as citizens. Not only that, it explicitly factors in the consumption choices we pro-actively make (such as repairing or recycling products) as well as the choices that are controlled more by our circumstances (such as the availability of green products or public transport), with sixty percent of the weight to the former.
The Greendex rankings look intuitive at a superficial level, but present a paradox on closer inspection.
On one hand, the high Greendex scores of developing countries like India, China and Brazil are primarily driven by their low per capita purchasing power, which in turn results in smaller houses, lower ownership of cars and other durables, and lower air travel. As their purchasing power increases, their pent up desire to consume (expressed as a desire to own large houses and luxury cars and have the same lifestyle as the developed countries), is likely to result in lower Greendex scores in future. This “can consume, will consume” behavior in itself is quite intuitive, and this is also a cause for concern. If economic prosperity is indeed inversely related to environmental sustainability, then sustainable development will stay in the realm of wishful thinking.
On the other hand, however, consumers in developing countries are also more concerned about environment problems and its impact on their health and lifestyle, less cynical about the environmental movement, more willing to sacrifice present consumption to preserve the environment for future generations and more involved in environmental issues as citizens. This is not quite intuitive, but, if this is true, this is cause for even more concern. If the consumers in developed countries are not concerned about the environment, and the consumers in developing countries won’t back up their concern with proactive consumer behavior (recycling is very rare in developing countries), there isn’t much hope for the environment, is there?
On the positive note, developing countries have often leapfrogged steps in the growth path taken by developed countries (mobile vs. land-line phones for instance), so there may be an opportunity for an alternate, more sustainable, path to development for India, China and Brazil. This will require that we avoid the mistakes made by the developed countries, both as consumers and as citizens. This will also require that corporates and governments come together to provide us the infrastructure we need to make the correct, more environmentally sustainable, choices.
You can download the the full Greendex Report here and the full Market Basket report here. You can also calculate your own personal Greendex score here and test your knowledge about environmental issues here.
Even though I don’t drive anymore, my own personal Greendex score is a lowly 59, possibly a result of my durable-heavy three-room house for one. I wonder what my score will be three months from now, when the house is gone, along with everything in it. I think it will be in the seventies, like my new friend Chhavi.
