For Immediate Release
September 8, 2015

The Asahi Glass Foundation Announces Results of the 24th Annual“Questionnaire on Environmental Problems and the Survival of Humankind”•••••

Overall, the time on the Environmental Doomsday Clock advanced 4 minutes from last year to 9:27, marking thethird most advanced time since the inception of the survey.
Respondents in all 10 regions surveyed, except those from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, marked
times in the “Extremely Concerned” quadrant of the Environmental Doomsday Clock.
Similar to last year, respondents overall most frequently selected “climate change” as the environmental
condition of concern in determining the time on the Environmental Doomsday Clock.
On the other hand, when indicating the Environmental Doomsday Clock time by category, respondents assigned
the most advanced times to “biodiversity” and “population” of 9:36, a more advanced time than the 9:26 theygave “climate change.”
When analyzing the shifts in the Environmental Doomsday Clock time from 2011 to 2015 by respondent age,
respondents over the age of 60 reported a higher sense of crisis than those under 60 every year.

The Asahi Glass Foundation (Chairman: Kazuhiko Ishimura) has conducted surveys with environmental experts aroundthe world each year since 1992. This year, the Foundation received 2,081 responses from 152 countries. The following
are the major findings of the survey.

1. Awareness of the Crisis Facing Human Survival - The Environmental Doomsday Clock
1-1 Environmental Doomsday Clock
The average time on the Environmental Doomsday Clock for all respondents advanced 4 minutes to 9:27. This marks
the third most advanced time since the inception of the survey in 1992, following 9:31 in 2007 and 9:33 in 2008.

Change over the years in the Environmental Doomsday Clock

The trend in the Environmental Doomsday Clock (2011 – 2015)

1Changes in the Environmental Doomsday Clock

Changes in the Environmental Doomsday Clock• Of the 9 regions surveyed, the needle on the Environmental Doomsday Clock advanced in four regions (WesternEurope, United States and Canada, Central America, South America). This is a significant increase from last year,
when it was seen in only three regions.
• The needle advanced the most in Central America (9:12 to 9:47), followed by South America (9:23 to 9:54).
• By contrast, the needle retreated the most in the Middle East (9:21 to 9:10), followed by Africa (9:09 to 9:00).
• As with last year, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union was the only region of the 10 surveyed with a timeon the Environmental Doomsday Clock in the 8 o’clock range (the “fairly concerned” quadrant), whereas all otherregions were in the “extremely concerned” quadrant.
• Respondents in Asia marked the same time as last year, of 9:15.

Regional Times2

1-2. Shifts in the Environmental Doomsday Clock Based on Respondent Age (2011 – 2015)
For the first time since the inception of the survey about the Environmental Doomsday Clock in 1992, shifts in thetime by respondent age is analyzed this year, examining the five years from 2011 to 2015.
• In all years between 2011 to 2015, respondents over the age of 60 reported a more advanced time on theEnvironmental Doomsday Clock than respondents under the age of 60.
• The time on the Environmental Doomsday Clock for respondents over the age of 60 is fairly stable, ranging from9:28 to 9:35. Accordingly, the shifts in the Environmental Doomsday Clock over the last five years can largely
be attributed to respondents under the age of 60.
• Examining the shifts in the Environmental Doomsday Clock in the past five years reveals that the sense of crisis
is on an upward trajectory for all age groups, “20s to 30s,” “40s to 50s,” and “over 60.”

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2. Environmental Conditions of Concern in Determining the Time on the Environmental Doomsday Clock (Overall)
In determining the time on the Environmental Doomsday Clock, the questionnaire asked respondents to select fromthe following 11 categories of environmental problems the most pressing issues in the country or region where theylived, ranking the problems from 1 to 3. (See Questionnaire Report for further details.)
Environmental Conditions of Concern:
1. Climate Change; 2. Biodiversity; 3. Land Use; 4. Pollution/Contamination;
5. Water Resources; 6. Population; 7. Food; 8. Lifestyles; 9. Global Warming Measures;
10. Environment and Economy; 11. Environment and Society
2-1. Selection Rates for Environmental Conditions of Concern• Similar to last year, respondents overall most frequently selected “climate change” as the environmental condition
they were most concerned about in selecting a time on the Environmental Doomsday Clock, at 25%. This wasfollowed by “pollution/contamination” at 12%, and “water resources” and “biodiversity” at 11% each.
2-2. Ranking of Time on the Environmental Doomsday Clock for Environmental Conditions of Concern• When ranking the Environmental Doomsday Clock time for the Environmental Conditions of Concern indescending order, “biodiversity” and “population” continued from last year to have the most advanced times at9:36.
• All 11 categories fell in the “Extremely Concerned” quadrant including the category with the lowest sense ofcrisis, “environment and society,” which had a time of 9:04.

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2-3. Regional Trends in the Selection of Environmental Conditions of Concern• Overall, “climate change” was the most frequently selected category in most regions, at 25%. This was followedby “pollution/contamination” (12%), “water resources” and “biodiversity” at 11%.
• In contrast, respondents in China most frequently selected “pollution/contamination.” “Land use” was the highest
choice in South America, “water resources” in India and the Middle East, and “climate change” and “biodiversity”
in Oceania except Australia.

Selection Patterns for Environmental Conditions of Concern By Region52-4. Regional Distribution of the Environmental Doomsday Clock Time for Environmental Condition of Concern• Overall, respondents indicated the highest sense of crisis for “biodiversity” and “population,” assigning them themost advanced time of 9:36. This was followed by “pollution/contamination” at 9:30.
• While respondents overall most frequently selected “climate change” as the most pressing environmental
condition of concern, the time they assigned to the issue, at 9:26, ranked in 6th place.
• Respondents in South America and Oceania had the greatest number of categories that surpassed the 10 o’clockhour on the Environmental Doomsday Clock. In Asia, all categories remained in the 9 o’clock hour.

Regional Distribution of the Environmental Doomsday Clock Time for Environmental Conditions of Concern

This year, the questionnaire also surveyed respondents on problems they thought were most closely related to the issue
they ranked first in Question 1, as well as their selection rationale. Please see the Questionnaire Report for furtherdetails.
The survey includes a Comments section in which respondents are invited to write about environmental problems intheir countries, their opinions, and solutions along with the comments for Question 2, 2-3. This year, we received a totalof 919 respondents in 124 countries around the world as well as 276 respondents in Japan, for a total of 1,195.
Respondents’ comments will be made also available on the Foundation’s web site (http://www.af-info.or.jp) on
September 8th at 11 a.m.

For more information, please contact:
Tetsuro Yasuda, Secretary General
The Asahi Glass Foundation
2nd Floor, Science Plaza 5-3 Yonbancho Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 102-0081 Japan
Phone: +81-3-5275-0620Fax: +81-3-5275-0871
e-mail: post@af-info.or.jp

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

6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 mass 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 report is available in five languages. The pie chart below shows the affiliation of thequestionnaire respondents in descending order. The questionnaire was sent to respondents in 212 countries including
Japan, with responses returning from 152 countries.
Number of Countries SurveyedRegions

Countries

U.S.A & Canada2Central America,
Carribean countries

29South America

12

Western Europe

27

Eastern Europe &former Soviet Union

28

Africa57

Middle East

16Asia24

Oceania16Japan

1Total212• Facts about This Year’s Questionnaire
Survey period: Questionnaires were sent out in April 2015 with a return deadline of June 2015
Questionnaire respondent pool: Environmental experts selected from members of government organizations,academic and research institutions, NGOs, corporations, and mass media. (based on the Asahi Glass Foundationdatabase)
Questionnaires mailed: 25.306 (24,070 to 212 countries and 1,236 within Japan)
Questionnaires returned: 2,081
Response rate: 8.2%

7The Environmental Doomsday Clock"Questionnaire on Environmental Problems and the Survival of Humankind"

Each year the Foundation conducts a survey of the sense of crisis felt by respondents about the continuance of the human race as the global environment continues to deteriorate, gauging the responses withthe time expressed on the hands of the Environmental Doomsday Clock created by the Foundation.

Time Changes in the Environmental Doomsday Clock over the Years極め109かed
ernncな不56ed

7Co

安4

Fairlyり(N= 2343)

8rnce(N= 706)(N= 643)2015(N= 2081)

3on+4 min安(N=1054)

2い11 12 1
10293847 6 5

な11 12 110293847 6 51

Sligh 少 しtly 不C11 12 110293847 6 512ed

11 12 11029384
7 6 511rnce

2014

は2008

nedce ron

2000

nCo

安1992てExtreme 不ly安殆んBare ど 不ly
CRegional Times
E. Europe & former
Soviet Union

8:51(-8)

W. Europe
9:42(+9)

U.S.A. & Canada

10:01(+6)

Asia
9:15(±0)

Central America,
Caribbiean countries

M. East9:10(-11)

9:47(+35)

Africa9:00(-9)
Oceania
10:06(-2)

South America

9:54(+31)

Ŷ represents regions/countries where the time advanced from last year, Ŷ represents regions/countries where the time retreated from last year, represents regions/countries where the time remained the same