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Conservative Home polled its (Conservative Party) members on their views on Net Zero, in the wake of the Uxbridge by-election.
Famously unrepresentative of the wider population (or even of Conservative voters), this small sample were against Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, strongly opposed to the 2030 phase out of petrol and diesel vehicles, and unpersuaded by the idea of a climate ’emergency’. They were only as unpersuaded as they were when the same question was asked three years ago, though – suggesting that although opposition to specific nearer-term targets may have hardened among this group, there isn’t necessarily a sense of worsening ‘polarisation‘.
Conservative Home wrote:
A picture of the typical panel member looks roughly like this. He (and it will usually be he) believes that global warming is happening, but isn’t necessarily convinced that human activity is driving it. He supports the Net Zero 2050 target, but not its presence on the statute book, and doesn’t believe that it will be hit. He is strongly opposed to the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars – and to low traffic neighbourhoods…the nearer the target, tax or measure, the bigger the opposition
In a new guide focused on promoting necessary changes to urban transport policies – whether clean air zones or low traffic neighbourhoods – ACT Climate Labs draw on insights (including from Britain Talks Climate) to provide guidance on how to connect on transport without turning it into a culture war.
Making sense of public opinion on clean air zones
Public opinion on clean air zones and liveable neighbourhoods can sometimes appear to be contradictory. If clean air zones acquire the reputation of being unpopular, this is likely to prevent the ‘quiet majority’ who support them from making their own voices heard.