Poll after poll has shown ordinary Canadians ahead of politicians when it comes to the environment — on neonic pesticides that kill bees, on harnessing wind and solar power energy, on oil pipelines.

Now there’s another one: Climate change, where 88 per cent say Canada needs to commit to “significant new actions” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The survey, released Friday by Environics Institute for Survey Research in partnership with the David Suzuki Foundation, also found that 78 per cent were concerned about what climate change will mean for future generations.

A majority of Canadians are also worried about scarcity of water and more frequent droughts, increased extreme weather events like storms and flooding, and the slow disappearance of wildlife.

The poll was based on phone interviews with 2,020 Canadians between Oct. 16 and 19.

The survey comes on the eve of a climate summit in Lima, Peru, which will be attended by representatives from dozens of countries Dec. 1-12. The summit is considered crucial because it will deliver a first draft of an agreement to cut greenhouse emissions, which is expected to be signed at a UN conference in Paris next December.

For Ian Bruce, the science and policy manager for the David Suzuki Foundation, one of the most interesting things the poll showed was that a majority of Canadians’ support for a carbon tax.

“A carbon tax is one of the most powerful incentives governments can use to encourage companies and communities to pollute less,” said Bruce. “It is encouraging to see that Canadian support mirrors momentum around the world for pricing carbon pollution, with 73 countries, 22 states, provinces and cities and over 1,000 businesses recently signalling their commitment.”

The poll showed that 58 per cent of people in British Columbia support their existing carbon tax, and 56 per cent of Canadians elsewhere said they would support a similar tax in their provinces.

The poll also showed a growing number of Canadians — 63 per cent — agree with scientists that climate change is man-made.

One surprising result in the survey was that Canadians are unaware of criticism against Canada globally as a climate laggard.

This Environics Institute/David Suzuki Foundation survey comes on the heels of one by Canada 2020, a progressive think-tank, which found a few weeks ago that over 77 per cent Canadians are concerned about climate change and 84 per cent want Ottawa to show more leadership.

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