Ecology, only a concern of boho eaters of organic and rolling in Vélib ‘? Nothing is less sure. An Ifop study *, carried out for Casino and the University of the Earth, looks this Monday at the existing links between the French of the less well-off classes (earning less than 2,000 euros net per month) and the ecological transition. 20 minutes was able to question exclusively on this subject Jérôme Fourquet, director of the “opinion and business strategies” department at Ifop.
Ecology is sometimes caricatured as a concern only linked to the wealthy classes, unlike the less well-off French people who are more concerned about their purchasing power. However, your study shows the opposite…
Ecological awareness is not confined to the wealthiest categories. This is a very cross-cutting awareness that affects all social categories. For the working or lower middle classes, which we have grouped together in this study behind “France at less than 2,000 euros net”, ecology is also a subject of concern and sensitivity, but also a source of concrete, current and future. 86% of them are worried about global warming, and 81% say they are ready to make more efforts in the future to fight against it.
You talk about concrete involvement. How does it manifest?
We see fairly classic things taking shape, in terms of sorting and recycling, second-hand or travel. Generally speaking, what works best are behaviors that can have a personal benefit in addition to the ecological action. This can be a health benefit, for example by eating less red meat (64% of respondents do or are prepared to do so), or an economic benefit, such as limiting energy consumption (86 % of respondents) – or second hand (74%).
The more coercive and punitive tracks, such as limitation or prohibition, are much less appreciated. For example, 67% of respondents are against banning the sale of new diesel and gasoline vehicles, and 57% against reducing speed on motorways. It is better to support a public already aware of these issues than restrictions.
Public policies do not have to make the subject ecologically concerning, it already is. What is needed is to make it accessible. In marketing parlance, this is called the nudge, that is to say the little nudge that helps to adopt the right gestures. People have good will, we now have to encourage them to take action.
We talked a lot this summer, especially with private jets, about the duty to set an example for the wealthiest before asking for efforts from the most precarious. Is this in your survey?
According to our study, the majority of French people earning less than 2,000 euros per month consider that they make more than the average. So we can actually think that they believe that the wealthiest are not doing enough. In the same way that it is necessary to accompany and help, it is also necessary to show that everyone participates, otherwise it gives a good excuse for doing nothing. No one wants to be the only effort.
And precisely what the study shows is that the less well-off do not wait for others to act…
Yes, they are already doing things, it is important to underline this. And they are ready to do more. The main constraint is economic, even more so for these categories and in this context of inflation and purchasing power crisis.
But fairly quickly behind comes the question of exemplary nature and practicality. It must be understood that beyond the question of money, what is particularly lacking in these categories of the population is time. We must therefore bring ecology to the consumer and make it as less restrictive as possible. We have seen this, for example, with glass recycling bins. It’s now almost everywhere, which encourages people to do it, because it’s easy. We can imagine the same thing for the recycling of furniture, carpooling, bike rentals… What is needed are more involved public authorities. 76% of our respondents believe that public services are not doing enough to support them in the ecological transition.