Comment: Climate vs the cost of living?

Worsening financial pressures on households have been used by some politicians, pressure groups and media outlets to argue against green policies on the grounds of cost. Our Climate Barometer tracker data shows people blame failures of government and the energy system (not green initiatives) for high bills, and research by Onward and Public First finds green policies are viewed as least responsible for the cost-of-living crisis (behind the price of energy and the conflict in Ukraine). 

But that doesn’t mean worries about finances aren’t relevant to how people perceive green policies: it’s been clear from before the current cost-of-living crisis that support for a range of net zero policies drops once the (possible) costs are emphasised. Put simply, when financial worries dominate, everything else is viewed through this lens, including the transition to net zero. Polling by Ipsos in the summer of 2023 found that although more people supported than opposed car-free zones, they opposed using financial deterrents to achieve this. 

There is no necessary conflict between critical, immediate issues like the price of energy bills and support for green policies: people do not seem to have a ‘finite pool of worry’ that means more pressing issues drown out concern about climate change (the environment consistently polls as a top-five issue for voters even as cost-of-living worries dominate).

But the fairness (in terms of affordability for different social groups) and perceived fairness of climate policies are critical components of whether (and how quickly) they are accepted and implemented.

As many campaigners have argued, the climate and cost-of-living crises share lots of the same causes and solutions, especially when it comes to household energy costs and the benefits of insulation. Surveys indicate rising levels of consideration being given by households to energy-saving measures – something that campaigners have found difficult to make salient in mainstream discourse for decades. They similarly show widespread support (including among Conservative Party members) for policies to insulate homes, which immediately lowers energy bills.

So while support for the tactics of direct action campaigns like Insulate Britain is not high, their demands (which are echoed across the campaigning and political spectrum) are fully endorsed by the public. 

Message testing research (featured in more detail in the Cost of Living thread) provides guidance on how to talk about climate change and the cost of living at the same time.