As opinion polls conducted by the European Commission or, in France, by the French Institute for the Environment (Ifen) and the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) have consistently shown since the 1970s, the environment has steadily grown in importance in the minds of Europeans and the French (see the box on institutions in the “Introduction” chapter of this book). While the state of the environment in France is judged neither better nor worse than in other European countries (46% consider it better, 9% consider the situation the same, 37% consider it worse, and 8% do not express an opinion); for the first time, in the 2007 edition of the IRSN Barometer, environmental concerns among the French rank ahead of insecurity and immediately behind unemployment, poverty, and social exclusion. Among the environmental issues that most concern the French, global warming and air pollution are the two problems that most mobilize public opinion. According to the 2007 Eurobarometer, 93% of the French believe that the issue of global warming should be addressed urgently (including 70% who say “very urgently”) and 94% (71% of whom “strongly” agree) support the European goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20% by 2020. In surveys conducted by IFEN and IRSN, water pollution is generally the third priority cited, and there is a fairly significant gap between these issues and other topics such as soil pollution, the extinction of certain plant or animal species, natural disasters, or nuclear risks.[chapter excerpt]