Environmental protection is more important to European citizens of all political persuasions than economic growth: A 14-country study in the marine context

To focus on voters' priorities, Bill Clinton's campaign famously used the slogan, "It's the economy stupid." With growing environmental crises, is this still true? We explored this issue for the marine sector, using representatively-weighted survey data from 14 European countries (N = 11,130). Citizens were asked about their own and policy makers' (perceived) preferences for marine-related economic, environmental, and human health policy goals. Results found the public consistently prioritised environmental protection and, to a lesser extent, health over economic growth. However, the public believed that policy makers cared less about the environment and health, but more about the economy than they did themselves. These patterns were consistent across all countries, all points of the political spectrum, and among coastal and inland residents. Marine policy makers who care about public opinion, may want to start considering that, at least for the European public, it is increasingly about "the environment, stupid!".