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Government climate opinion tracker data shows that concern about climate change remains very high in the UK in 2023:
There were also some important differences between segments of the population:
The Climate Barometer Tracker has followed public and MP support for local renewable infrastructure in their area since 2022. Since the beginning, we have pointed to a perception gap between the (high) public support for local renewables projects such as new solar parks and wind farms, and what the public and MPs think support and opposition looks like.
The latest wave of the tracker shows that this gap remains: public support for new local renewable projects remains high. People, and their representatives continue to underestimate this support, and overestimate opposition.
In this wave, we also asked those who have personal experience with local infrastructure projects, how they felt about them. Overall, those who have a newly proposed project in their area, and those who have a fully or partially built one, feel accepting, proud, and relieved. A minority report feeling worry, anger, and upsetness, but for the most part, emotional responses are positive.
Those experiencing the most negative emotions were people living in areas where a renewable energy project had been rejected.
New polling by More in Common shows that 86% of the UK public believe climate change to be either entirely or partially responsible for the June 2026 heatwave. This holds true even for those opposing net zero, with 63% of them seeing climate change as at least in part to blame for the extreme heat.
At the same time, more than 4 in 5 think the UK is unprepared to cope with extremely hot weather (84%) and more than 3 in 4 see the country as ill-equipped to deal with water shortages and drought (77%).
Asked about which groups they think are most negatively affected by extreme heat, the elderly (88%) and children (68%) were seen as worst impacted, closely followed by “ordinary people” (66%).
Describing the most recent heatwave in their own words, responses revealed a public struggling to cope, with words like “hot”, “worried”, “unbearable” and “uncomfortable” being mentioned most often:
Relatedly, the majority expect more political leadership on the issue: 59% of the public say they want the government to help people like them cope with the impacts of extreme heat, compared to 26% who think the government should do the same amount and only 5% who say the government should do less to help people like them cope.
What does climate ‘salience’ mean in 2026?