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Net Zero

Climate Change Committee: Net zero targets are harder to achieve after changes to policies

13 October 2023

In a straightforward rejection of the central claim behind the government’s announcements in September 2023 of delays to key net zero targets – that the changes would save households money – the Climate Change Committee issued a response emphasising that the changes would in fact make net zero harder to achieve, as well as be more costly. Explore the Climate Barometer narrative thread on climate policies, public opinion and the costs of living here.

The Climate Change Committee wrote:

The cancellation of some Net Zero measures is likely to increase both energy bills and motoring costs for households – households who are also facing increasing impacts from climate change. Electric vehicles will be significantly cheaper than petrol and diesel vehicles to own and operate over their lifetimes, so any undermining of their roll-out will ultimately increase costs. The cancellation of regulations on the private-rented sector will lead to higher household energy bills

 

The latest from the Net Zero timeline:

Opinion Insight 23rd September 2024

Polling: Building familiarity with EVs necessary to overcome misconceptions

Public support for climate policies – from heat pumps, to home insulation, to electric vehicles – has always been about a lot more than just having access to the right facts.

Someone might like the sound of an EV, but not (yet) be able to afford it. Plenty of people have heard scare stories about heat pumps (although the views of people who actually know someone who has had one installed, tend to be more positive).

But a number of recent polls – from ECIU and Climate Barometer’s tracker – shine a light on the importance of building familiarity with EVs, because misconceptions abound.

For example, ECIU polling found that more than 5 in 10 (54%) petrol car drivers think EV drivers run out of charge at least once a year but, in reality, more than 8 in 10 (82%) of EV drivers report never running out of charge.

This is a significant misperception sitting behind the ‘range anxiety’ sometimes cited as a reason not to switch to an EV.

Climate Barometer polling tested a range of ‘anti-net zero’ narratives and soundbites, and found very few of them currently have any cut through with the public. But there was one exception: 40% of people say they don’t think EVs are more environmentally friendly than cars (when in fact they are). 

And this wasn’t the only misconception about EVs. 

When people were reminded that only new vehicles (not second hand ones) will be phased out after 2030, there was a 9% increase in people saying that the phase out would not affect them at all.

Support for the phasing out of petrol and diesel cars was higher (+5%), and opposition is lower (-6%) when people were reminded that it is only new vehicle sales which must be zero emissions by 2030 (39% support, 38% oppose), compared to support without the prompt about second-hand vehicles (34% support, 44% oppose).

This is a statistically significant difference.

View Net Zero timeline now

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