Germans See Themselves & Their Employers As ‘Greener’ Than Other Countries

Many companies strive to portray themselves as “environmentally friendly” in an effort to meet their corporate responsibilities. A new Harris Interactive^® study indicates that German businesses appear to be setting the pace in terms of communicating their “green” credentials, with 43 percent of German workers considering their employer to be “green,” followed by Italy (30%), Spain (28%), the UK and US (21% each) and France (19%). Additional survey highlights include:

• A note of caution for businesses that promote their green credentials, as almost half (49%) of UK respondents and one-third of the other countries surveyed stated they are cynical of businesses that promote their green credentials (Germany 37%, France 36%, Spain 33%, Italy 30%, U.S. 30%);
• More Germans (41 percent) are aware their employer has a corporate responsibility/environmental policy (UK workers 32%; French, Italian and Spanish workers 30%);
• Respondents in all countries agreed that green issues need to be tackled globally with at least 79 percent agreement in each country, and that governments, businesses and consumers were responsible for taking steps to reduce climate change (all above 70% agreement).

Janet Blackburn, Research Director - Harris Interactive said, “Many respondents believe that businesses could increase their efforts on environmental issues. In Germany only 10 percent felt that businesses are doing all they can to tackle ‘green’ issues, with other countries fairing only slightly better (U.S. 18%, UK 14%, France and Italy 13%, Spain 12%).”

This study was conducted online by Harris Interactive among a total of 6,590 adults (aged 16-64) within France (1,075), Germany (1,114), Great Britain (1,117), Spain (1,076) and the United States (1,108) and adults (aged 18-64) in Italy (1,100) between 01 and 14 November 2007.

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