For Immediate Release
September 7, 2011

The Asahi Glass Foundation Announces Results of the 20th Annual“Questionnaire on Environmental Problems and the Survival of Humankind”
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The average time on the Environmental Doomsday Clock retreated by 18 minutes from last year to 9:01,
representing a retreat in the time for the third year in a row.
Of all the regions, the sense of crisis was lowest among respondents from Japan.
Respondents most often cited global warming as the main environmental concern in considering their
response on the Environmental Doomsday Clock.
Overall, respondents who "agreed" that "global warming was attributed to human activities” reached 85%,
whereas only 7% "disagreed."
Respondents from most regions indicated they had "no experience" with decreased supplies of drinking
water, while the majority of respondents from India, Middle East and Africa selected "had experience."
Responses to “abnormal shortages/increases in prices of meats and dairy products” showed disparities
between developed and developing regions.
Among environmental security issues, more than 90% of respondents stated that "water shortage," "foodshortage," and "environmental pollution and contamination" were pressing.

The Asahi Glass Foundation (Chairman: Tetsuji Tanaka) has conducted surveys with environmental experts
around the world each year since 1992. This year, the Foundation received 1,000 responses from 77 countries.
The following are the major findings of the survey. (Please refer to the attached appendix for details on thesurvey and this year’s results.)

1. Awareness of the Crisis Facing Human Survival – The Environmental Doomsday Clock
The average time on the Environmental Doomsday Clock retreated by 18 minutes from last year to 9:01,representing the largest retreat of the time since the survey started in 1992. The sense of crisis diminished for thethird consecutive year.

Movements in the Environmental Doomsday Clock (1992-2011, Overall)Movements in the Environmental Doomsday Clock( 2006-2011, Overall)1

Regionally, the average time on the environmental doomsday clock retreated more than 30 minutes from lastyear in four regions: Africa (from 10:24 p.m. to 9:09 p.m.), United States & Canada (from 10:13 to 9:35),
Eastern Europe & former Soviet Union (from 9:47 to 9:13), and Latin America (from 9:48 to 9:18).

●Environmental Conditions of Concern
Overall, respondents most frequently cited "Climate Change" as the main environmental condition of concern
upon selecting the time on the doomsday clock. This was followed by “Population” in developed regions, while
their counterparts in developing regions cited "Pollution/Contamination" as the second environmental conditionof concern.

（For more information about the Environmental Doomsday Clock, please refer to P5～P7of the survey report）

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2. The Effects of Climate Change●Experiences with Climate Change
A large majority of respondents from developedregions indicated that they had "no experience "with "frequent droughts and wildfires" and"significant declines in water levels or drying ofrivers and lakes," whereas the majority ofrespondents in developing regions stated they "hadexperience."

Frequent Droughts and Wildfires

Significant Declines in Water Levels or
Drying of Rivers and Lakes●Increases in Frequency or Scope of Climate-Related Anomalies

Overall, an overwhelming majority of respondents indicated that they were experiencing increased changes,
with 80% selecting "increasing frequency" whereas only 1% selected "decreasing frequency."3

●Measures to Respond to Climate Change
The majority of respondents in Japan and China"disagreed" with "measures and preparations
should be implemented by governments, notindividuals" with a large margin of nearly 80%.
Compared with other regions, respondents inthe two countries consider that measures to
respond to climate change should be taken byindividuals.

●Reasons for Climate Change
Overall, respondents who "agreed" with "global warming is
caused by the increased emissions of CO2, attributed to humanactivity" reached 85%, comprising the majority of responses.

（For more information about the Effects on Climate Change, please refer to P8～P16of the survey report）

3. The Diminution of Water (Fresh Water) Resources●Decreased Drinking Water Supply on Occasional or Daily Basis••

Overall, 79% of respondents indicated they had "no experience" with " Decreased Supplies of Drinking Water. "Regionally, the majority of respondents in India stated they "had experience" this phenomenon with a highmargin of 86%. In addition, the majority of respondents in the Middle East and Africa also selected "hadexperience."4

● Reasons Behind Diminishing Water Supplies
Overall, the majority of respondents stated that the following 6 items items comprised the reasons behinddiminishing water supplies.

Climate Change

Allocation of River and Groundwater
Towards Massive Agricultural Irrigation

Increased Industrial Use

Increased Domestic Use

Pollution and Contamination

Deforestation

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● The Effects of Market Economy-Based Commerce on Water Resources

Except for South Korea and Japan, the majority of respondents in all regions selected "agree" with"securing water is the responsibility of countries producing agricultural and industrial products who use waterresources."（For more information about the Diminution of Water (Fresh Water) Resources, please refer to P17～P25 of the survey report）

4. Food Problems●Experiences with Food Shortages

Respondents in developed regions who selected "no experience" with "shortages of meat, grains, vegetables, anddairy products" formed a small majority with a 6% margin. In contrast, those in developing regions who "hadexperience" formed the majority with a large margin of 62%, highlighting a discrepancy in the circumstances
between developed and developing regions.

6● Reasons for Food Shortages and Price Increases

Respondents who stated that "the massive speculation in the market for primary products (especially foragricultural and marine products) led to increases in the prices of food" comprised a majority in all regions.

●Measures to Alleviate Food Problems

Japan was the only region in which respondents who selected "disagree" with “there should be no shortages
considering absolute global food output; shortages can be solved by adequate distribution” reached the majority,with a 19% margin.
（For more information about the Food Problems, please refer to P26～P33of the survey report）

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5．Critical Issues of Environmental Security
Overall

Water Shortage

Food Shortage

Environmental Pollution
and Contamination"

・ More than 90% of respondents stated that the environmental security issues of "water shortage," "foodshortage," and "environmental pollution and contamination" were "pressing," comprising an overwhelming
majority.

（For more information about the Food Problems, please refer to P37～P41 of the survey report）

The survey also requested respondents to write comments on any topic related to environmental problems. Thisyear we received 156 comments from 45 countries and 173 from Japan, totaling 317. From among them, 47comments from Japan and all comments from overseas are contained in the report, except for advice orsuggestions on the questionnaire.

* Please refer to the report for the full results and details of the survey.
* The results are also available at our website, at www.af-info.or.jp, starting from 3:30pm on September 7th.
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: +81-3-5275-0620 Fax: +81-3-5275-0871, e-mail: post@af-info.or.jpURL: http://www.af-info.or.jp
8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 are knowledgeable and are involved in environmental issues. The respondent pool includes
government officials and those in universities and research institutions, nongovernmental organizations,
corporations and mass media, and is queried about various endeavors to counter environmental problems.
(The survey is supervised by Professor Akio Morishima, Special Research Advisor of the Institute for
Global Environmental Strategies and board member of the Foundation.) The questionnaires are sent out toapproximately 4,000 respondents every April and collected by June. After the responses are compiled,compared, and analyzed, the survey results are announced in September. The questionnaire, as well as thereport, is available in Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, and Spanish. The pie chart below shows theaffiliation of the questionnaire respondents in descending order. The questionnaire was sent to respondents
in 170 countries including Japan, with responses returning from 77countries.

• Facts about This Year’s Questionnaire

Survey period: Questionnaires were sent out in April 2011 with a return deadline of June 2011.
Questionnaire respondent pool: Environmental experts selected from members of governmentorganizations, academic and research institutions, NGOs, corporations, and mass media.
(based on the Asahi Glass Foundation database)
Questionnaires mailed: 7,164 (6,209 to 169 countries and 955 within Japan)
Questionnaires returned: 1,000
Response rate: 14%
Breakdown of respondents by region:
RegionNumber of responsesJapan468
United States & Canada129
Western Europe80
Asian Four*94
Developed Regions (Including Asian Four) 771
Rest of Asia (Excluding Japan, Asian Four) 129
Latin America
26
Africa24
Developing Regions
179
Oceania17
Eastern Europe & former Soviet Union
27
Middle East
5
Others49
Overseas Total
532
Total
1000

Percent of total
46.8
12.9
8.0
9.4
77.1
12.9
2.6
2.4
17.9
1.7
2.7
0.5
4.9
53.2
100.0

*Asian Four:South Korea, Hong kong, Taiwan and Singapore

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