Perception Gaps

MPs continue to underestimate importance of the environment for voters

23 October 2023

Climate Barometer tracker data over the past 12 months shows that MPs think that the environment has declined in salience for the public. However, this is not mirrored in public opinion data, which continues to show climate and the environment are important to voters…

Worries about the cost of living have loomed so large – for voters and in terms of their dominance in the political discourse – that MPs may assume public concern about climate change has dropped.

One way to read the Conservative Party’s recent rhetorical turn against net zero policies (positioning them as unduly costly) is a calculation that voters don’t care about the environment as much as they actually do, and that anything that can be presented as reducing costs will be popular.

As Ipsos polling from August indicates, people do worry that currently cannot afford to ‘do more’ to protect the environment – but the importance of climate change hasn’t diminished.

The most popular new policy in Rishi Sunak’s announcement of net zero changes (for Conservative and Labour voters) was an increased government grant for heat pumps – i.e. a policy change that made making a positive environmental choice cheaper.

And polling by the think tank Onward found that green policies were ranked last in a list of potential causes of the cost-of-living crisis.

When asked, only 17% of MPs think that the environment is a top issue for the public, but this is not mirrored in public opinion data, which consistently shows the environment polling higher. In our most recent round of polling, ‘the environment’ was selected as a top 3 issue by 26% of the public.

Sign up now for a regular, short, digestible email summary of what you need to know in the world of climate opinion.

The latest from the Perception Gaps timeline:

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.

Climate Barometer Tracker 1st July 2024

MPs and the public underestimate public support for pylons

Majorities of the public across political lines show support for building new pylons carrying renewable energy in their local area. Alongside renewables, this is an area of consensus – even those intending to vote Reform UK, whose climate views can differ from the rest of the British public somewhat, show high levels of support compared to opposition (although notably, they also show the highest level of opposition, at 39%).

Despite the relative public consensus, both the public and MPs tend to underestimate public support for new local pylons. Only 7% of Conservative MPs and 17% of Labour MPs thought their constituents would support the measure.

Opinion Insight 22nd March 2024

What the public misunderstands about heat pumps

While Climate Barometer tracker data shows that overall public awareness about heat pumps is low, it seems that misinformation runs through what the public do claim to know about heat pumps.

An article from Carbon Brief summarises the top myths about heat pumps circulating among the British public and media discourse, including that 24% think running a heat pump costs more than a gas boiler, and 20% think heat pumps only work in new homes (Good Energy poll).

Source: Carbon Brief
Author: Dr Jan Rosenow
Date: 21st March 2024

Factcheck: 18 misleading myths about heat pumps

View Perception Gaps timeline now