Perception Gaps

New research paper: politicians and activists ‘speak a different language’ on climate change

23 July 2022

In a new paper (open-access link) published in the journal Language and Ecology, Clare Cunningham and her colleagues at York St John University analysed the prevalence and use of climate change words and phrases by politicians and activists.

The analysis revealed major differences. Activists use emotive language and talk about ecology, guilt, and morality. Politicians use much more technocratic language and focus on finance, trade-offs, technologies and the economy, reflecting a longstanding positioning of environmental issues among political elites as emerging from a cost-benefit analysis perspective.

Perhaps most strikingly, ‘people’ barely feature in politicians’ discourse on climate – showing up only as ‘bill payers’.

The analysis is important to help understand why campaigns aimed at political or other ‘elite’ groups can sometimes fail to land with public audiences, and vice-versa. In related research, IPPR tested a range of climate change narratives and found that (despite their common usage by climate campaigners) language around ‘green jobs’ was not as compelling for the public as language around protecting the environment for future generations, or the need to reduce the risks from climate impacts.

Climate Barometer tracker polling backs this up: the public is not very persuaded by arguments that climate policies will deliver lots of new jobs. But this is more likely to reflect a widespread lack of trust in the ability of government to deliver on its promises, than a distaste for green jobs.

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The latest from the Perception Gaps timeline:

Climate Barometer Tracker 5th November 2024

Tracker data: The public and MPs underestimate support for net zero

Climate Barometer tracker data shows that net zero support is underestimated by, within and between the public and MPs.

The actual level of net zero support amongst the public was 65% from our polling in October 2024. But when we asked people to estimate this, most members of the public (70%) and half of MPs (49%) underestimated the levels of support for net zero amongst the public.

When it comes to opinion in parliament – actual support for net zero by 2050 was 90% amongst the MPs we polled in October. But this support was underestimated by 93% of the public, as well as by three-quarters of MPs themselves (75%).

Simply put, the 2050 net zero target is much more popular amongst the public and MPs than people think.

This follows previous tracker data showing evidence of underestimated support for net zero.

Climate Barometer Tracker 4th November 2024

Tracker data: Huge perception gap on support for onshore wind

Climate Barometer tracker data from October 2024 shows that there are clear misperceptions about support and opposition to local-level renewable energy.

There is a huge perception gap when it comes to onshore wind, for instance. In this wave of polling, 72% of the public told us they would support onshore wind being built in their local area. But only a quarter (25%) thought most people in their local community would support this.

When we asked MPs about this, just 19% thought more people would support than oppose onshore wind in their constituency, with 39% of MPs believing opposition would exceed support

Similar (although slightly less extreme) perception gaps are seen when we have asked the public and MPs about support for local solar parks, new pylons and power lines carrying renewable energy, and local renewables more widely.

Climate Barometer Tracker 2nd July 2024

Tracker data: Narratives that cut through

There are dozens of different narratives in circulation about climate change, arguing in favour of climate action and green policies, as well as arguing against them. But which ones actually cut through to the public?

Climate Barometer tracker data shows that narratives that are pro-climate action are being heard and are generally agreed with by the public. Even a striking statistic about emissions inequality (the richest 1% emit twice as much as the poorest 50% combined) has been heard of and agreed with by 48% of the public.

In contrast, statements sometimes made in opposition to net zero and climate action (‘we can either fix the climate or fix the economy’) and key anti-net zero attack lines (‘net zero policies will make us colder and poorer’), or misinformation about 15 minute neighbourhoods are mostly unheard of.

Areas where misinformation is more prevalent include attitudes about electric vehicles (being ‘no more environmentally-friendly than petrol or diesel cars’), and the role of population growth in global carbon emissions.

MPs generally indicate higher exposure to media narratives about climate change, and more Conservative MPs in particular seem to agree with certain statements about the reliability of renewables ‘when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine’, and on the sustainability of electric vehicles.

Conservative MPs are more likely than the general population to read newspapers like the Telegraph, where many of the anti-net zero statements tested in the Climate Barometer tracker can regularly be found.

View Perception Gaps timeline now