Recent News & Findings
Pacific: Impact of Climate Change
Our 3rd annual survey focussed on climate change in the Pacific, has found an increase in the number of people who are having to make changes to the way they live, across the countries and territories in the Pacific.
Over the last 12 months, there has been a 1.7% increase amongst those who answered that they have had to make changes to the way they live due to climate change. The largest increases were in Samoa (2.8%), Nauru (2.5%), Cook Islands (2.3%) and Vanuatu (2.1%).
Similar to previous years, the countries and territories that predominately comprise atolls and have the lowest elevations, had the highest proportion of people that had to make changes to the way they live, with the highest proportion being in Kiribati (93%), followed by Tokelau (92%), Marshall Islands (91%), Tuvalu (90%) and Niue (89%).
The majority of those in the Pacific feel that the rest of the world is largely unaware and uninterested in the effects that climate change is currently having in the Pacific and will not provide adequate assistance to manage the effects that climate change is having. Asked “Do you believe those in countries outside of the Pacific are aware of the effects that climate change is currently having on people living in the Pacific?” 61% answered ‘No’. Another question asked “Do you believe that countries outside of the Pacific will provide adequate assistance to countries and territories in the Pacific to manage the effects of climate change over the next 5 years?” 73% answered ‘No’.
The survey comprised a methodology where nationwide representative samples of the adult populations throughout 21 Pacific countries and territories, were undertaken between October - December 2024.
Japan: 30% female executives by 2030
For the last 20 years, Japan has been trying to elevate women into leadership roles, in what has and remains, a highly patriarchal society. In 2003, the Japanese government set a goal of achieving 30% representation of women in leadership positions in all areas of society by 2020, which was far from achieved.
More recently, in June 2023, the Japanese government approved a policy package aimed at developing the empowerment of woman. One of the targets set is to have women hold 30% of the executive roles within country’s leading publicly-listed companies by 2030. This is a very ambitious target, where in June 2023 women were estimated to hold only 11.7% of such executive roles.
Shortly after this was announced, we undertook a survey amongst C-suite executives from Japan’s leading publicly-listed companies, to determine their views on this and other initiatives to elevate women into executive roles and to further empower women in Japan.
One question asked “By 2030, can your company realistically attain the goal to have 30% of the executive roles held by suitably qualified women?” In June 2023, 23% answered ‘Yes’ and 77% ‘No’. Asked again in our recent survey in May 2024, there was a 5% increase in responses to ‘Yes’ reaching 28%. Subsequent questions found much of this 5% increase attributable to increased attention and strategies towards developing leadership paths for women in these companies over the past year.
Another series of questions explored the main reasons why achieving the goal of 30% is viewed as being difficult or not possible by 2030. Firstly, most companies do not have sufficient numbers of women suitably qualified, or in the process of becoming suitably qualified, for executive roles. Secondly, external recruitment is not possible due to the overall shortage of women being suitably qualified, or in the process of becoming suitably qualified. Thirdly, corporate culture in Japan is regarded as being too male-orientated and unable to be adequately changed by 2030 to be acceptable for larger numbers of women.
Philippines: Alignment with the USA
In recent years, the Philippines, like many other countries, has been strengthening its economic ties with China. This shift has sparked public debate about whether the nation should deepen its alignment with China or maintain its traditional alliance with the USA, which dates back to its time as a U.S. colony from 1898 to 1946.
As part of our annual social research project, which examines a wide range of issues, we have continued to ask Filipinos their preference for aligning more closely with either the USA or China, a question we have included since 2017.
This year’s results show a continued rise in the proportion of respondents favouring the USA, with 86% choosing the USA compared to 14% for China. Support for alignment with the USA has steadily grown over the past eight years, increasing from 64% in 2017 to 70% (2018), 73% (2019), 77% (2020), 81% (2021), 82% (2022), and 84% (2023).
Over this period, a clear correlation has emerged between negative perceptions of China and the growing preference for alignment with the USA. Events such as territorial disputes in the South China Sea, aggressive encounters between Filipino fishermen and the Chinese Coast Guard, and concerns about the origins of COVID-19 have all contributed to this trend.
The survey used a methodology where a nationwide, representative survey of 3,000 adult citizens throughout the Philippines were interviewed between 22nd November to 11th December 2024.
Webinar
APMI Partners will be holding our first webinar for 2025 from Singapore on the 7th February, focussed on social research in Asia.
Speakers will include several partners and staff, leading regional social researchers and academics, plus senior managers from ASEAN, The Asian Development Bank and the World Health Organization.
This conference is suitable for government, not-for-profit and other organisations involved in conducting and implementing social research.
To register your interest, please contact: events@apmipartners.com
