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Countries displayed very low levels of confidence in their governments on critical infrastructure
Governments in every country use a wide range of regulations, laws or codes to help keep people safe. The World Risk Poll survey includes three questions that ask people whether they think their governments are doing a good job of keeping them safe in three key areas: food safety, water safety and safety of powerlines – a measure of critical infrastructure – in the areas where they live.
The combined responses to these three questions have been used to create the World Risk Poll Government Safety Performance Index (GSPI). The higher the score on this measure, the more people thought their respective governments are doing a good job keeping their food, water and critical infrastructure safe.
Twenty-nine counties registered a GSPI score of 75 or higher, suggesting most people living in these countries approve of their government’s performance on critical infrastructure.
The most trusted governments in the world on critical infrastructure are Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and the Philippines.
The World Risk Poll also reveals that 35 countries displayed very low levels of confidence in their governments on critical infrastructure. Globally, the four least trusted governments are Yemen, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Iraq.
Overall high-income countries tend to have a higher level of trust in their governments than low economy countries. Whilst the country’s economic, social, cultural and political climate all play a significant role, individual characteristics such as education levels, gender and feelings about household income contribute to perceptions of how likely their government is to keep them safe.
Governments have a responsibility to create safe environments for the people they represent. What is clear is that the populations of far too many countries do not trust those in power to fulfil this key role. In any situation where people need to make decisions about their safety, the sources of information they trust are critical.
When we arrived in Fukushima, six months after the nuclear accident the people there told us they had had plenty of scientific lectures on radiation and associated risks but they still didn’t know whether they could drink the tap water or eat the local fish from the market.
The Government Safety Performance Index summarises views on government’s performance on keeping critical infrastructure safe. (Country’s score out of 100)
A new report, launched by a global safety charity, has revealed that over two thirds of people living in India believe both their family (77%) and their government (68%) are well-prepared to deal with a disaster – despite new data that suggests the country is less resilient than most around the globe.
According to the data – collected in 2023 – 43% of the world’s population say they can do nothing to protect themselves and their families in the event of a disaster, a seven percentage point increase from 2021.
Forty-one per cent of people globally sees climate change as a ‘very serious threat’ to their country, with 28 per cent being “somewhat concerned”.
