Authors: Efthimios Zervas, Efi Drimili

Title: Social acceptance of ecological debt from the residents of Attica

Abstract

The ecological debt is an environmental term that has come into the spotlight rather recently. The present work investigates the social acceptance of ecological debt from the residents of Attica. The survey has been implemented through the elaboration of a questionnaire, which has been addressed to a representative sample of the wider area of Attica (500 valid questionnaires have been used). The estimation of the environmental consciousness of the citizens, as well as of their knowledge regarding the concept of ecological dept has taken place through the statistical analysis. The survey led to the conclusion that the concept of ecological debt is not particularly widespread (3/4 of the respondents seem not to know the term), but the vast majority identify its existence and the causes of its accumulation. The 2/3 of the respondents largely welcome the connection between the ecological debt and the financial debt of a country and believe that the existence of the first should lead to a reduction of the second. Finally, the 4/5 of the citizens believe in the existence of ecological dept in Greece due to the growth of industrial activity from developed countries while one out of two are opposed to the repayment of the financial debt of Greece.