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Our CAST briefing paper co-authored with Dr Charles Ogunbode re-analyses and reviews key insights from the pivotal Spotlight report, as well as CAST climate views survey data.
We found that people of colour in the UK are disproportionately affected by climate change impacts. Compared to white respondents, people of colour in the UK were more likely to say they have experienced climate impacts – including heatwaves, water shortages, and wildfires – personally.
They were also more likely to be concerned about climate change and see it as a serious, urgent threat. And while people of colour experience higher climate anxiety levels compared to white respondents, they also reported feeling greater efficacy and hope and expressed greater levels of support for several climate change policies.
The current evidence base, including the one outlined in the briefing paper, is very limited. Sample sizes don’t allow, for example, robust comparisons to be made between different minority ethnic and racial groups, and this limits their application in campaign and engagement strategies. There is a need a more dedicated focus on the climate views and experiences of people of colour in the UK, with insights budgets that permit truly inclusive samples, prioritisation of projects that paint a more nuanced and richer picture of public opinion on climate change.
More than 40,000 extra people died on England’s hottest days between 1988 and 2025 compared with what would be expected in normal temperatures, according to new ONS data.
Deaths from high heat are expected to keep climbing as climate change and an ageing population combine, with older people, children and the unwell most at risk.
The strain has been visible across the health system: A&E departments saw their busiest period on record, with almost 2.5 million attendances a month in May, June and July, with record-breaking heat cited as a key factor. Nurses reported collapsing on shift amid what their union called “inhumane and impossible” conditions.
YouGov’s long-term data tracking shows an uptick in the belief that ‘the environment’ is one of the UK’s most important issues, amidst a summer of unprecedented heat, fires and drought. Although this increase does not match high points across the trend line, or the impact of summer heat episodes between 2022-2024.
The importance Britons placed on ‘the environment’ rose +11% across this summer – from 14% on the 4th May (pre-heatwaves) to a peak of 25% on the 17th of August, before dropping slightly again to 23% on the 24th of August.
These shifts have been particularly noticeable amongst Lib Dem supporters (+17%, from 23% to 40% in the same period), Labour supporters (+15%, from 22% to 37%) and women (+14%, from 15% to 29%).
This data follows a piece by YouGov published after the June summer heatwave, which suggested that the heat had not impacted people’s climate opinions or actions, despite 71% believing the heatwave was likely to have been caused by climate change.
While this certainly appeared true at the time – the latest data suggests this piece may have been premature in catching the full effects of the extreme heat on environmental salience this summer (especially when previous weather extremes have led to spikes in issue salience data).
