Half of Italians unwilling to pay more for eco-friendly goods and products

Brussels – Concern about environmental issues and the effects on one’s health and everyday life, with an explicit request to politicians to enforce relevant laws: While Italians are concerned about sustainability, they are divided when it comes to shopping. Paying more for “eco-friendly” products is a sacrifice that only one in two Italians (51 per cent) is willing to make. This is the country photographed by Eurobarometer in the last thematic survey produced and released today (May 29).

When it comes time to reach for their wallets, attention to sustainability, recyclability, reparability, and CO2 produced to reach the shelf, Italians are among the most unwilling. The country ranks 19th out of 27 for propensity to buy “green”. A figure that seems to jar with the environmental consciousness of Italy’s citizen-consumers.

Among those who “agree” (33 per cent) and those who say they “tend to agree” (55 per cent) that environmental issues have a direct effect on everyday life and health, there are virtually nine out of ten Italians (88 per cent) who overall call for action in this regard, even more than the European average (78 per cent). One way to run for cover, for Italians, lies in legality. The number one priority when it comes to sustainability and respect for the environment turns out to be enforcing existing laws. This is how, for two out of three respondents (64 per cent), the solution to problems for the environment can be ensured.

A response that sounds like a call for politicians at all levels to take action to ensure that the rules do not remain just written down. Indeed, in a country where it is difficult to talk about taxes, the Italians believe that companies that pollute or produce environmental damage should be made to pay. Forty-three per cent of respondents are openly in favour of this tightening, joined by another 47 per cent who tend to be in favour. However, if you look closely at the data, Italians are the least willing to lash out at businesses: they are third to last (ahead of only Romania and Poland) in terms of taxes or charges for repairing environmental damage “without reservation or doubt” against industry.

When it comes to industry, industrial products are the one thing that worries Italians the most. Chemical waste disposal and the presence of chemicals in the products one buys in the store turn out to be among the main concerns of Italians.

And the green economy? It’s a good thing, no doubt. However, it would need a greater push from public authorities. Six in ten Italians (62 per cent) believe public spending to support the green transition is insufficient. This is one of the harshest “report cards” at the EU level, as men and women of Italy rank eighth in demanding more public funding to one of two transitions at the centre of the Commission’s end-of-term agenda.