Attitudes to climate change from the perspective of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland

Kalistová, Anna; Huttmanová, Emília

doi:10.31577/cas.2020.04.579

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…10 Kyselá, Tvinnereim, Ivarsflaten (2018): 20-21. 11 Kalistová, Huttmanová (2020): 32-56. 12 De Rose, Testa (2014): 113-135.…”

Section: Justification For Undertaking the Researchunclassified

The fading flame of hope: the climatic and environmental emergency in the eyes of Polish pupils and students

Cywiński

2023

10.14746/rpeis

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The author's motivation for undertaking this research was his own anxieties; anxieties arising from the global ecological and environmental emergency. The aim of my research was to determine young people's awareness of the climate emergency and their agency (possible actions) related to remedying this phenomenon. In conducting the research, a mixed quantitative and qualitative strategy was used with an online survey, thus examining the opinions of the respondents. The text analyses the answers to questions eliciting opinions on the climate and environmental emergency (a term used in one of the European Parliament's relevant resolutions), with particular regard to the possibility of stopping the aforementioned crisis. Respondents were primary and secondary pupils, and university students. Among the conclusions, the following should be singled out: 90.3% of respondents agree that we are dealing with an ecological and environmental emergency, but only 12.5% believe that we will stop the crisis, while 29.8% do not, and 57.7% do not know. Most importantly, the analysis of young people's statements reveals the pessimistic nature of their opinions, revealing the fading hope of remedying the emergency. In combination with the literature review, this sends an alarming message about the need to act not only to deal with the crisis but also in the field of information addressed to all social groups. In summary, there is evident fear that predictions of disaster may turn out to be self-fulfilling prophecies (as defined by Robert K. Merton). The demonstrated ability of young people to influence politicians offers us a hope that we might prevent such a disaster. For such action to succeed, it needs to take place both inside and outside of schools and universities.

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“…10 Kyselá, Tvinnereim, Ivarsflaten (2018): 20-21. 11 Kalistová, Huttmanová (2020): 32-56. 12 De Rose, Testa (2014): 113-135.…”

Section: Justification For Undertaking the Researchunclassified

The fading flame of hope: the climatic and environmental emergency in the eyes of Polish pupils and students

Cywiński

2023

10.14746/rpeis

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“…Although this has started to change, Poland and Hungary opposed the European climate strategy demanding detailed pledges for funds for the countries undergoing the green transition [108,109]. The underlying reason for this is that Poland and Hungary are doubly dependent on fossil fuels as fossil fuels have not only been a major source of energy but are also a source of revenue for governments, as well as companies, in both countries [110][111][112]. In Poland and Hungary, people are more concerned about the energy affordability issue caused by green transition than in other EU countries [110].…”

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“…The underlying reason for this is that Poland and Hungary are doubly dependent on fossil fuels as fossil fuels have not only been a major source of energy but are also a source of revenue for governments, as well as companies, in both countries [110][111][112]. In Poland and Hungary, people are more concerned about the energy affordability issue caused by green transition than in other EU countries [110]. In addition, potential unemployment raises opposition regarding more ambitious climate goals in Poland [111].…”

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confidence: 99%

Institutional Drivers of Voluntary Carbon Reduction Target Setting—Evidence from Poland and Hungary

et al. 2023

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Governments worldwide have launched climate policies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). These policies aim to enhance businesses to be active actors in the process of decarbonisation. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to identify the drivers of voluntary corporate decarbonisation illustrated by climate target-setting practices. In particular, this paper aims at diagnosing whether European Union (EU)-wide and country-level policies foster material corporate commitment to mitigating the carbon footprint in two countries that are exceptionally heavily dependent on fossil fuels: Poland and Hungary, which are characterised by a specific political-economic situation. This analysis focuses on policies related to the EU sustainable finance initiative that enhances companies to voluntarily reduce their GHG emissions: (1) sustainable financial sector, (2) corporate disclosure, and (3) corporate governance policy. At the country level, the national policies for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are analysed. The empirical research is conducted based on the financial and economic data for a group of Polish and Hungarian publicly listed companies exposed to these regulations. The exposure to certain policies is approximated through selected corporate characteristics. Logistic regression analysis is applied to firm-level data gathered from Refinitive and corporate reports. The dataset covers the period 2014 to 2021, with 214 data-points. The response variable is a binary indicator of whether a company sets emission targets. The empirical research proved that state ownership, belonging to the financial sector, and performance-oriented corporate governance factors have a significantly negative impact on the probability of a company setting target emissions. On the other hand, the company’s size and leverage have a strong positive impact on the probability of setting emission targets. Also, it was confirmed that after 2020 the frequency of corporate target-setting in Poland and Hungary increased. Additionally, it was observed that Polish firms are more willing to set climate targets than Hungarian ones. Therefore, from the analysed policies, only the corporate sustainability disclosure policy proved to have a positive impact on the practices of setting climate targets in Polish and Hungarian firms. The policies related to the sustainable financial sector and to state-owned enterprises proved to have a negative impact on the probability of setting climate targets, while for the corporate governance policy, the results are mixed. In this vein, it was shown that, by a majority, policies to stimulate voluntary corporate commitment to decarbonisation are counter-effective in countries characterised by exceptional fossil fuel dependence and particular institutional features. The original value of this study stems from the applied methodology focusing on a mix of policies addressing the deep decarbonisation process in the specific country settings. The presented research contributes to an on-going debate on the drivers of voluntary corporate decarbonisation, in particular the impact that policy mixes framed under the sustainable finance agenda may have on material commitments to GHG emission reduction targets. In this context, the main findings are important for policymakers who are responsible for creating and implementing policy measures devoted to the deep decarbonisation process. It is recommended that policymakers should consider national specificities while designing policies for a Europe-wide net-zero transition and account for potential tensions arising from different goals as they may have impact on the effectiveness of the decarbonisation process. Future research may focus on the verification of the observed relationships between variables on a larger sample of the European firms to identify the key drivers of deep corporate decarbonisation.

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Attitudes to climate change from the perspective of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland

Cited by 2 publications

References 2 publications

The fading flame of hope: the climatic and environmental emergency in the eyes of Polish pupils and students

The fading flame of hope: the climatic and environmental emergency in the eyes of Polish pupils and students

Institutional Drivers of Voluntary Carbon Reduction Target Setting—Evidence from Poland and Hungary

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