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Encouraging the public to go online and help compile the nation's biggest ever survey on climate change before World Environment Day on June 5, the Environment Agency Ipsos MORI Poll has revealed that 41% of people say they've altered their behaviour in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint.

However, the majority of the public (59%) is still doing nothing to tackle climate change.

Environment Agency Chief Executive Barbara Young said: ?The message is getting through to some people that tackling climate change is everyone's responsibility. But we must be relentless in our efforts to reduce carbon emissions because there still exists a level of apathy in some parts of the community.?

Barbara Young challenged those people that cited recycling (23%) as their main contribution towards tackling climate change - to further raise the stakes.

?Of the 41 per cent of people who said they were already tackling climate change, more than half (23%) pointed to recycling as their main contribution. That's a signal that people want to care for the planet, but recycling does not really contribute much to tackling climate change.

?But there are a range of equally simple measures that people can take on, which have a real impact on their carbon emissions - such as ensuring appliances are not left on standby, riding a bike instead of driving and drying your washing outdoors. Many people might already be taking these actions alongside recycling, but if you're not, now is the time to start.

?As for those 59 per cent of people who have yet to do something to help tackle climate change, hopefully they will see how easy it is to start reducing their carbon emissions, with very little extra effort. And contributing to this online survey can be the first step in discovering simply ways of tackling climate change.?

Contribute to the Environment Agency's national survey at www.mendoftheworld.org

The initial Ipsos MORI Poll, taken to launch the World Environment Day survey, found:

  * 41% of British people say they're already doing something to help tackle climate change,

  * 48% of older people (aged 45-64) were doing something to tackle climate change, compared to only a 34% of young people (aged 15-34),

  * 76% people living in the Eastern region of England said they were tackling climate change compared with only 22% of people living in London.

With the average household leaving up to 12 appliances on standby or on charge, more than four million tonnes of excess CO2 are produced annually in the UK - the equivalent of an extra 660,000 homes across the country.

By drying your washing outdoors instead of in the tumble drier you can cut your household CO2 emissions by an average of 78kg annually.

By replacing a five-mile car journey by riding your bike, you will save approximately 1.40kg of CO2.