Animals and humans more important than the planet.....

That's the simplistic way of presenting the result of a survey carried out by the Coop in the UK that I've just caught up on. Published about a month ago and reported in the Guardian, it's clear that more are people are concerned about the here and now than something (climate change) that is probably seen as being off in the future.

On the back of a lot of television coverage of ethical farming issues it is perhaps not surprising to see animal ethics to be rated so highly but the significant thing for me was how ethical trade is seen as being more important than climate change by many people.

The figures in the Guardian article are presented in a less than clear way. Either "Only 4% rate climate change as their top ethical priority, compared with 21% who think animal welfare is the most important issue and 14% who rate fair trade as their key concern" or "Three main categories emerged from the survey as the key areas of concern: ethical trading (27%), animal welfare (25%) and environmental impact (22%)".

The message is strong though, and it's one that any company engaged in promotional activities should take on board. Right now, ethical trading (or fair trade) is out there as a big issue for a great number of consumers.