Eighty-seven percent of adult Filipinos said they had “personally experienced” the effects of climate change in the previous three years, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, which was conducted from Dec. 8–11, 2023, revealed.

Based on the survey results released on Thursday, Feb. 22, 19 percent of respondents said they had experienced “severe” effects of climate change in the previous three years, 43 percent felt “moderate” effects, and 24 percent said it had a “little” impact on them.

Meanwhile, 13 percent said they did not feel the effects of climate change at all.

“The December 2023 percentage of those who have personally experienced the impacts of climate change fell by seven points from October 2023 and six points from December 2022, but it was similar to March 2017 and March 2013,” SWS said in its report.

“Compared to October 2023, those who experienced the severe impact of climate change fell by four points, while those who experienced the moderate impact similarly decreased by four points,” it added.

Health impact

The December 2023 survey also looked into the perceived danger of climate change’s impact on one’s health and found that a large majority of Filipinos believe it poses a threat to both their physical and mental health.

It found that 88 percent said the impact of climate change is dangerous (47 percent “very dangerous,” 42 percent “somewhat dangerous”) to their physical health, while only 12 percent said it is not dangerous (9 percent “somewhat dangerous,” 2 percent “not dangerous at all”).

The survey also found that 81 percent said the impact of climate change is dangerous (37 percent very dangerous, 44 percent somewhat dangerous) to their mental health, and 19 percent said it is not dangerous (14 percent somewhat dangerous, 5 percent not dangerous at all).

Majority believe they can do something about climate risk

In the December 2023 survey, 74 percent agreed (37 percent “strongly agree,” 37 percent “somewhat agree”) with the statement “people like me can do something to reduce climate risk or risks resulting from climate change,” while 17 percent were undecided and 9 percent disagreed (6 percent “somewhat disagree,” 3 percent “strongly disagree”).

This results in a net agreement score of +65 (percent agree minus percent disagree), which SWS considers “very strong.”

“This indicates a very strong personal efficacy to do something to reduce climate risk,” SWS said.

The Fourth Quarter 2023 SWS Survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adult respondents nationwide.

The sampling error margins are ±2.8 percent for national percentages, and ±5.7 percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.