For Immediate Release
September 6, 2019

The Asahi Glass Foundation Announces Results of the 28th Annual“Questionnaire on Environmental Problems and the Survival of Humankind”● The average time on the Environmental Doomsday Clock was 9:46, almost same level as last year,
which showed the largest advancement since the inception of the survey.
● Similar to last year, respondents in three regions, including Oceania, USA & Canada and WesternEurope, reported a higher sense of crisis. The time on the Environmental Doomsday Clock also
advanced into the 9 o’clock range in Eastern Europe & former Soviet Union. Conversely,respondents in Africa reported the lowest sense of crisis and, unlike in any of the other regions, theEnvironmental Doomsday Clock time has remained in the 8 o’clock range there.
● By age, the Environmental Doomsday Clock time or sense of crisis was highest in respondents inover the age of 60.
● Respondents most frequently selected “Climate Change” as the environmental issues to be taken into
account in selecting a time on the Environmental Doomsday Clock, consistent since 2011.
● Respondents most frequently selected “Biosphere Integrity” representing their sense of crisis about
the environment in terms of time.
● A new question was added in this year: “Do you see any signs of improvement in the approach toglobal environmental issues?”● Concerning the transition to a decarbonized society, improvements are recognizable overall,although they vary by region and are minor.
● Respondents most frequently selected “Climate Change” as showing a sign of improvement fromefforts to solve environmental issues.
The Asahi Glass Foundation (Chairman: Kazuhiko Ishimura) has conducted surveys with environmental
experts around the world each year since 1992. This year, the questionnaire was distributed to 205
countries around the world, and we received responses from 2,072 respondents in 143 countries. Below
are the main points of this year’s questionnaire results. Further details are available in the “Survey
Report of the 28th Annual Questionnaire on Environmental Problems and the Survival of Humankind,”or online at the Foundation’s web site starting 11 a.m. on September 6th.

1. Awareness of the Crisis Facing Human Survival - The Environmental Doomsday Clock
1-1 The Environmental Doomsday Clock
・The average time on the Environmental Doomsday Clock for all respondents retreated by one minute to 9:46
compared last year.

Change over the years in the Environmental Doomsday Clock (Overall)

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・The respondents’ sense of crisis has almost remained at a same level as last year, when the Environmental
Doomsday Clock time was shown to have advanced the most since the inception of the survey in 1992.
9:50
9:40
9:30
9:20

9:23

9:27

2014

2015

9:31

2016

9:47

9:46

2018

2019

9:33

2017

The trend in the Environmental Doomsday Clock (2014-2019) (Overall)・Of the 9 regions surveyed, the needle retreated in only two regions, including Asia (9:48 to 9:38) and Africa (9:28to 8:59), whereas the needle advanced in all other regions.
・Asia was affected by the retreat of the Environmental Doomsday Clock time in China by 32 minutes (10:34 to10:02).
・The Environmental Doomsday Clock time in Africa retreated by 29 minutes and is still before the 9 o’clock range.
・The advancement of the needle was largest in Eastern Europe & former Soviet Union, 31 minutes (8:42 to 9:13),
and the Environmental Doomsday Clock time in these regions reached the 9 o’clock range, although it hadremained in the 8 o’clock range since 2014.

・In analyzing the changes in the Environmental Doomsday Clock since the inception of the survey, respondents
have consistently indicated times in the “extremely concerned” quadrant in the 9 o’clock hour since 1996, withthe exception of 2000.

Changes in the Environmental Doomsday Clock2

A Comparison of Annual Changes Since 1992

1-2 Shifts in the Environmental Doomsday Clock Based on Respondent Age (2011 - 2019)
・The older the respondents, the higher their environmental awareness.
・Awareness about the environmental crisis among respondents in over the age of 60 is gently rising and is higher
than among any other age groups.
・The Environmental Doomsday Clock time for respondents in their 20s and 30s has significantly retreated thisyear by 20 minutes. Since the inception of the survey in 2011, however, the clock time has generally advanced
every year (from 8:34 in 2011 to 9:40 in 2019).

Shifts in the Environmental Doomsday Clock by Generation

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2. “Environmental issues to be taken into account” in Determining the Time on theEnvironmental Doomsday Clock (Overall)
In determining the time on the Environmental Doomsday Clock, the questionnaire asked respondents to select,from the following nine categories of environmental problems, the most pressing issues in the country or region
where they lived, ranking the problems from 1 to 3. (See the Questionnaire Report for further details.)
Environmental issues to be taken into account:
1. Climate Change; 2. Biosphere Integrity (Biodiversity); 3. Land-system Change (Land Use);
4. Biochemical Flows (Pollution/Contamination); 5. Water Resources; 6. Population; 7. Food;
8. Lifestyles (Consumption Habits); 9. Society, Economy and Environment, Policies, Measures

2-1 Selection Patterns for “Environmental issues to be taken into account” By Region
・The top two issues that the respondents selected and considered when writing the Environmental Doomsday Clocktime remained unchanged from last year worldwide: “Climate Change” ranked first (30.0%), followed by“Biosphere Integrity (Biodiversity)” at 13.6%.

2-2 Ranking of Time on the Environmental Doomsday Clock for “Environmental issues to be taken intoaccount”
・Meanwhile, the ranking in the Environmental Doomsday Clock time differed from last year. “Food” ranked first
last year, but dropped to the seventh-ranked with the clock time retreating by 33 minutes (10:12 to 9:39), whereas“Biosphere Integrity (Biodiversity),” having ranked third last year, ranked first this year with the clock time at
9:58. “Population” ranked second, as it did last year.
・Last year, the clock time reached the 10 o’clock range for two issues, including “Food” and “Population,” whereas
it remained in the 9 o’clock range for all issues this year. Nevertheless, the clock time is past 9:35 for all issuesand is comparatively advanced overall.
・”Climate Change” ranked first in the selection rates for “Environmental issues to be taken into account,” butranked third in terms of the Environmental Doomsday Clock.

Overall Analysis of “Environmental issues to be taken into account “ (selection of first to third ranks)<The details regarding regional distribution of the Environmental Doomsday Clock time for“Environmental issues to be taken into account” are described in page 13 of the Report.>

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3. Signs of Improvement in the Approach to Environmental Issues: Comparison with Prior to the Adoptionof the Paris Agreement and the SDGs in 2015
•We asked about awareness of signs of improvement in the approach to environmental issues under the categoriesof transition to a decarbonized society and “Environmental issues to be taken into account,” from the threeperspectives of “Public Awareness,” “Policies, Legal System,” and social infrastructure, “Funds, HumanResources, Technologies, and Facilities.”
3-1 Degree of transition to a decarbonized society
・Respondents said the transition is progressing overall, although to a minor degree.
・The only places where the value for“Policies, Legal System” was negative were Japan, Australia, USA, Canada,Middle East, Central America, and Western Europe (except UK), showing no improvements.
・By contrast, the responses from China and Taiwan showed that rather than“Public Awareness,”“Policies, LegalSystem”had advanced.

Degree of transition to a decarbonized society, Average of Total, Area and Attribution

3-2 Issues showing signs of improvement
・“Climate Change” was most commonly selected as the issue showing signs of improvement (25%), followed by“Society, Economy, Environment, Policies and Measures” (17%) and “Lifestyles” (13%).
Seventeen percent of the respondents replied “No sign of improvement at all.”・Concerning efforts against “Climate Change”, the respondents see more improvements in “Public Awareness”
than in “Policies and Legal System” and “Funds, Human Resources, Technologies and Facilities.”

Signs of Improvement, Chosen Environmental Issues
5Degree of Signs of Improvement of “Climate Change” in Environmental Issues,
Average of Total, Area and Attribution<The details regarding the awareness of sign of improvements in the approach to environmental issues aredescribed in page 25 and 26 of the Report.>This survey includes a section where respondents are invited to provide their opinions and write about theenvironmental realities they face in their region of the world, as well as offer suggestions for improvement. Thisyear, we received a total of 1,048 comments, including 771 from 119 countries abroad. These comments will be
published on the Asahi Glass Foundation website on September 6th at 11 a.m.

For more information, please contact:
Junichi Shimizu, Director, Commendation, “Blue Planet Prize”
The Asahi Glass Foundation
2nd Floor, Science Plaza 5-3 Yonbancho Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 102-0081, Japan
Fax: +81-03-5275-0871 e-mail: post@af-info.or.jp
Phone: +81-3-5275-0620

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URL: https://www.af-info.or.jp

Appendix● About the “Questionnaire on Environmental Problems and the Survival of Humankind”
Since 1992, the Asahi Glass Foundation has conducted a survey each year with experts around the world who areknowledgeable and are involved in environmental issues. The respondent pool includes government officials andmembers of universities and research institutions, nongovernmental organizations, corporations and the media.
These experts are queried about various endeavors to counter environmental problems. The questionnaires areproduced in six languages (English, Chinese, French, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish) and are sent out around April
each year, and collected by June. After the responses are compiled, compared, and analyzed, the survey results areannounced in September. The questionnaire was sent to respondents in 205 countries including Japan, withresponses returning from 143 countries. The highest respondent percentage by attribute is, University or research
institution, Corporation, NGO/NPO, Central government, Local government, Media in descending order.
Number of Countries Surveyed
Regions
Countries
Asia
24
Oceania16
USA & Canada
2
Central America,
27
Caribbeancountries
South America
13
Western Europe
22
Africa55
Middle East16
Eastern Europe
29& former Soviet
UnionJapan
1Total205● Facts about This Year’s Questionnaire
Survey period: Questionnaires were sent out in April 2019 with a return deadline of June 2019
Questionnaire respondent pool: Environmental experts selected from members of government organizations, NGOs,
academic and research institutions, corporations, and the media (based on the Asahi GlassFoundation database).
Questionnaires mailed: 27,642 (more than 26,450 overseas and 1,192 in Japan)
Questionnaires returned: 2,072
Response rate: 7.5%
Breakdown of respondents by region:[Region]Number of responses

JapanOverseas
Overall total
Asia (including Japan)
Oceania
USA & Canada
Central America, Caribbean countries
South America
Western Europe
AfricaMiddle East
Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union
Unknown area
Overall total

389
1691
2072
1156
71
232
64
115
224
131
40
3902072

%
18.4
81.6
100.00
55.8
3.4
11.2
3.1
5.6
10.8
6.3
1.9
1.9
0100.00