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Knowledge of COPs is limited, and there is scepticism about whether the promises made at international meetings are being kept – but voters still want and expect to see British climate leadership on the world stage.
In the UK, there’s a widespread belief that climate change demands international cooperation: many (although not all) parts of society understand climate change as a ‘shared global crisis’. There is an appreciation of the need for collaboration with other nations to tackle climate, and for support of poorer nations.
A majority want the government to play a leadership role in setting ambitious global targets. And there is some evidence that during COP26 – hosted by the UK in Glasgow in 2021 – among public audiences there was a relatively optimistic sense of progress being made.
But COP26 may have been an anomaly, as by the time COP27 came around only a minority (24%) felt that Rishi Sunak was showing leadership: his hesitation around attending in person, so early in his premiership, is likely to have influenced this judgement.
Many people in the UK were sceptical that COP27 would speed up climate action, a trend that has continued in the run-up to COP28.
Although the UK public reports feeling more familiar with international climate conferences (relative to other national populations), knowledge is still likely to be very limited, and scepticism about the purpose, nature and effectiveness of international climate conferences is prevalent.
It makes sense, then, that people feel that claims of UK leadership must be well evidenced in order to be credible. Having explored the meaning of COPs with one British audience segment in 2021, the patriotic ‘Loyal Nationals’, Climate Outreach found that explaining the value and purpose of negotiations is crucial, and the actions of leaders (i.e. if they ‘practice domestically what they preach internationally’) is also a big influence on whether negotiations are given credence by the public.
‘Net zero’ has made national headlines in September, with an Energy Security and Net Zero committee report recommending that the government stop talking about net zero, to Prime Minister Andy Burnham reaffirming the policy, a few hours later, explicitly stating the need for the UK to reach net zero by 2050.
Our latest data shows that holding steady is the right move, with net zero still receiving majority support among the public and MPs, and even trending upward slightly.
While it is clear that ‘net zero’ is not the most compelling communications phrase, it is also apparent that the public understand and are willing to support it, especially when linked back to its purpose, to address climate change. Rather than ditching the term, our work suggests that talking about the government’s net zero target is best done when connected to compelling reasons ‘why’, and clear explanations for ‘how’ it can be achieved.
New MP polling as Burnham enters Number 10
As Andy Burnham takes office as Prime Minister, our latest wave of MP data reveals that most remain firmly behind climate policies.