(ORDO NEWS) — According to a survey of European citizens, combating climate change should be Europe‘s top priority.
Nearly nine out of ten respondents said that collecting information on climate change is the most important use of space.
“This poll shows that the citizens of Europe strongly support investment in space to improve life on Earth, and that space ambitions are on the rise in Europe.
As world leaders gather for the 27th UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), the citizens of Europe want outer space to be used even more to monitor and mitigate climate change,” said Josef Aschbacher, Director General of ESA.
More than 21,000 people living in 22 ESA member countries took part in the survey, which was conducted by pollsters Toluna and Harris Interactive between September 25 and October 6.
The vast majority of respondents said that space exploration is necessary to further human knowledge of the Universe, as well as to improve life on Earth through constant communication connections and navigation systems.
However, in the future, most Europeans would like to see more emphasis placed on monitoring and mitigating climate change.
Among respondents in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, about 84% were in favor of joining forces to compete with US, China, India and Brazil, and 81% said that European space activities should be independent of decisions made by other major space powers.
Most Europeans believe that cleaning up space debris is the highest priority. About 86% said it was important ahead of organizing a robotic exploration mission to Mars (77%), landing astronauts on the Moon (71%), and sending astronauts to Mars (70%).
The survey was conducted ahead of the ESA Council meeting to be held in Paris on 22 and 23 November.
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