Swiss Environmental Panel: First Descriptive Results

How does the Swiss population perceive environmental quality and trends therein? Which opinions and preferences does it have on environment-related issues and policy, for example concerning climate or mobility policy? How do these preferences change over time?

Against this backdrop, the Swiss Environmental Panel explores public opinion in Switzerland in relation to environmental preferences and behavior, changes therein, and linkages to preferences and behavior in other policy realms.

Several thousand randomly selected individuals take part in the Swiss Environmental Panel and answer on these and related questions. The Swiss Environmental Panel was conceptualized by ETH Zurich and is, since September 2018, conducted by ETH Zurich with a mandate of and in cooperation with the Swiss Federal Environmental Agency (Bundesamt für Umwelt, BAFU). 

Public opinion is highly relevant for the actions of politicians and decision-makers. It gives information on support and interests of the public and motivates people on all levels to get involved (EUA, Eurobarometer). In the realm of environmental public opinion such data is rarely taken into account in political planning and reporting. A systematic documentation of such data does not exist, and, for Switzerland, the availability of public opinion data is scattered and fragmented, lacking continuity. Based on the central elements of previous public opinion surveys (“Umweltsurvey”, “Univox Umwelt”, “BFS Omnibus Umwelt”), it is therefore the goal of the Swiss Environmental Panel to provide a continuous and flexible survey instrument, adhering on the one hand to high scientific standards and being on the other hand practice-oriented. With the data generated, this project aims to provide a valuable information base for scientific purposes, political decision making, the public administration and the general public.

A short summary of first descriptive results is available below: