The fight against climate change requires collective action — from governments, institutions, businesses and individuals. A good understanding of the climate challenge is essential for people to make informed choices. To assess the public’s understanding of climate change in Italy, the sixth edition of the EIB Climate Survey focuses on people’s knowledge of climate change in three key areas: definitions and causes, consequences, and solutions. Participants answered 12 questions and were ranked on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 indicating the highest level of knowledge. With over 30 000 respondents across 35 countries, including the EU Member States, the United Kingdom, the United States, China, Japan, India and Canada, the EIB Climate Survey provides valuable insights into people’s overall understanding of climate change.
Key findings
- Italians rank 16th in the EU27 (score of 6.41/10), placing them slightly above the EU average of 6.37/10, according to the EIB survey. Finland leads the scoreboard with 7.22/10, followed by Luxembourg (7.19/10) and Sweden (6.96/10). Italy ranks immediately after France and ahead of Greece in a knowledge test on the causes and consequences of climate change and solutions to address it.
- Generational gap: 20- to 29-year-olds in Italy rank second in the European Union in terms of knowledge on climate change, only surpassed by young people in Luxembourg. They also know more than Italians over 30 when it comes to the causes and consequences of climate change and solutions to address it, scoring 6.88/10 overall compared to 6.33/10 for people over 30. It is the opposite in almost all EU countries, including Germany, France and Spain, where people over 30 are more knowledgeable on the topic than the younger generation.
- Overall knowledge gaps: Italians are well aware of the causes and consequences of climate change but there is room for improvement in their knowledge about solutions. Similarly to the findings in most EU countries, a large share of Italian respondents was not aware that reducing speed limits on roads (87%) or better insulating buildings (62%) can help combat climate change.
How well do people understand the causes of climate change?
The first sub-index focuses on the definition and causes of climate change. In this area, Italians scored on par with the EU average (7.24/10 compared to 7.21/10), ranking 12th in the European Union.
When it came to defining climate change, two-thirds of Italian respondents (66%, although 5 percentage points below the EU average) selected the correct definition (“A long-term shift in global climate patterns”). However, 30% believe that it is only a rapid change in the weather over a short period of time, especially in the summer.
- Over three-quarters (79%) are also aware that the main causes of climate change are human activities such as deforestation, agriculture, industry and transport. Meanwhile, 12% think it is caused by extreme natural phenomena, such as volcanic eruptions and heatwaves, and 9% believe that climate change is caused by the ozone hole.
When asked about the three biggest greenhouse gas emitters worldwide, most Italians (73%) correctly selected the United States, China and India.
How aware are people of the consequences of climate change?
When asked about the consequences of climate change, Italians scored 7.86/10 (ranking tenth in the European Union), well above the EU average (7.65/10).
86% know that it has a negative impact on human health (for example, it can lead to an increase in air pollutants such as ground-level ozone and particulate matter).
86% also correctly said that climate change is worsening world hunger by affecting crop yields due to extreme weather.
Regarding the impact of climate change on sea levels, 69% of Italians correctly said that the global sea level is rising, but 12% of respondents said that it is falling and 19% said that climate change has no specific impact on rising sea level.
The impact of climate change on migration, with increased forced displacement worldwide, is clear for three-quarters (74%) of respondents.
Knowledge of how to combat climate change varies
In the last sub-index, Italians scored 4.14/10 (below the EU average of 4.25/10), indicating significantly less knowledge of actions that can help mitigate climate change compared to the other two areas investigated. This highlights a general trend across EU countries, with most of them receiving low scores in this area. This score places Italy 17th out of 27 EU countries.
- Most Italians (71%) know that using recyclable products can help mitigate climate change.
- 63% also correctly said that using public transport instead of an individual car is a step in the right direction.
- But only a minority (38%, 6 percentage points below the EU average) know that better insulating buildings can help mitigate climate change,
- Less than a third (30%, 12 percentage points below the EU average) are aware that buying new clothes less frequently would help too, and only 13% of respondents (13 percentage points below the EU average) seem to know that reducing the speed limit on roads would help as well.
- Finally, Italians are not fully aware of the significant impact that digital usage has on climate change, with only 6% knowing that watching fewer videos online can help to mitigate it (3 points below the EU average of 9%).
Moreover, similarly to most countries in Europe, only a minority of Italians (47%) were able to correctly define an individual’s carbon footprint as “the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions emitted by a person in a year.”
Generational gap
Knowledge about climate change varies depending on different aspects of people’s sociodemographic profiles. One of the most notable correlations is with age.
20- to 29-year-olds in Italy are among the most knowledgeable about climate change of their generation in the European Union, only surpassed by peers in Luxembourg. They also know more than Italians over 30 when it comes to the causes and consequences of climate change and solutions to address it, scoring 6.88/10 overall compared to 6.33/10 for people over 30. It is the opposite in almost all EU countries, including Germany, France and Spain, where people over 30 are more knowledgeable on the topic than the younger generation.
In Italy, there is a rather notable generational gap in people’s understanding of the definition and causes of climate change, with individuals under 30 scoring 7.77 compared to 7.17 for their elders.
This gap is smaller on the second sub-index about the consequences of climate change (8.19 for people aged 20-29 compared to 7.80 for people over 30).
The difference in scores becomes significant again when it comes to what can be done to fight climate change, where people under 30 scored 4.70 compared to 4.03 for older cohorts.
As the financial arm of the EU, the EIB is financing key projects in Italy to support the country's green transition. Key projects include the connection of Sicily with Sardinia and the Italian mainland via a double submarine cable, which will improve electricity exchange capacity and grid reliability. In addition, the EIB is financing the first commercial-scale plant in Sardinia to produce a battery based on the state transformation of carbon dioxide, promising energy storage superior to current solutions. In addition to this, investments to support clean energy production generated enough electricity from renewable sources to meet the annual needs of more than one million Italian households in 2023 alone. The EIB is also one of the world's largest financiers in the water sector, with Italy as the main beneficiary, improving the coverage, quality and resilience of water services.
EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti:
“It is very encouraging to see that young Italians are among the most knowledgeable in the European Union on the causes, consequences and impact of climate change. This shows that education is the most powerful tool we have to make the world a better and more sustainable place to live in. The EIB, as the EU climate bank, is at the ready to promote the green transition of both the private and public sectors.”
Background information
Data and methodology
The survey methodology, questionnaire and full dataset can be downloaded here.
About the European Investment Bank
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It is active in more than 160 countries and makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals. You can find more information about the EIB and climate education here.
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