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A three-month online research and engagement project conducted by Hubbub worked with 175 UK homeowners (followed by polling of 501 UK homeowners) to understand how to support UK households in the transition to net zero.
On diets and food, the work found people’s motivations involve a mix of considerations about health, costs and taste. Health was the biggest priority when it came to diet, but people also reported cutting down on meat due to increased costs.
When it came to tackling food waste, the expert advice and engagement offered to households helped to drive meaningful changes. By engaging in the project, 75% (130) of 175 Household participants said they felt more confident about reducing and preventing food waste at home.
More widely, the work suggests that further measures are needed to enable households to buy more loose fruit and vegetables, and increase the range of vegetarian choices available; while in terms of communication and engagement, the report suggests there is a need reframe meat reduction more positively.
The centre for Climate Change & Social Transformations (CAST) has published a revamped version of its data portal, giving quick access to international surveys of public opinion on a wide range of climate issues from 2020-2023.
The Climate Action dashboard displays trends in people’s intentions to make different lifestyle changes in the UK (alongside international data).
Although there’s wide variation across different behaviours in terms of people’s overall willingness to engage in them (from the 80% of people who try to avoid food waste, to the 11% who say they would follow a vegan diet), one overall trend is clear: there’s no meaningful drop-off between 2020 and 2023 in any of the behaviours.
Some show a spike in 2021, likely linked to the Covid 19 pandemic (e.g. avoiding flying) or the surge in global climate activism that preceded it. But none are lower than the 2020 baseline.
That’s important to bear in mind when there’s discussion of public support for climate action weakening. Data like this show clearly that it isn’t, even if some of the more impactful lifestyle changes people could make (like following a vegan or vegetarian diet) don’t yet have majority support.
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.
The Local Storytelling Exchange has published a searchable map of stories from around the country that show ‘what the transition looks like’. They are a way to show (rather than tell) relatable stories of people taking action, which helps inspire others to do the same and show politicians that voters don’t just want and expect leadership on climate, they’re already taking steps themselves.
This map of onshore fossil fuel extraction sites shows several operating opencast coal mines and dozens of oil and gas sites across England and Wales with hundreds of operational wells between them.
The latest Climate Barometer tracker data (October 2023) shows that:
Centre-right think tank Onward (with Public First) explored Conservative voters’ attitudes towards a wide range of climate policies (some government policy, others not) in a report titled Hotting Up: How we get to net zero in a way that brings people with us
Three key takeaways are:
Voters expect ambition from the government alongside pragmatism
Support for climate action remains strong among voters, including 2019 Conservatives. The net zero by 2050 target enjoys strong support from the British public (56%) and 2019 Conservative voters (49%), far outweighing opposition (13% and 20% respectively). 43% of Conservative voters think tackling climate change is the most serious challenge facing the world, ahead of war (38%) and mass migration (38%).
Voters see shifts in net zero policy through the lens of ‘anti-politics’
The most common responses among the public if the Government was to get rid of the net zero target is that they would be worried about future generations (33%) and would consider the Conservatives to be untrustworthy (26%). With 2019 Conservative voters, the picture is more nuanced. The highest response was still that it would make them worried for future generations (28%).
Voters are cautious about costs of net zero, but optimistic about benefits
The Government should not mistake scepticism against single unfair policies for opposition to environmental policy in general. 53% of the public are willing to accept costs to tackle climate change, while 40% are not. Focus group participants were overwhelmingly negative about the ULEZ expansion to Greater London, which they saw as an unjust tax on the poor disguised as an environmental policy. Out of ten options given, net zero was the last to be blamed by the public (16%) for a higher tax burden.
The Social Change Lab investigated the so-called ‘radical flank’ effect: whether more radical/extreme protests can improve the perception or acceptability of more moderate campaigners.
Based on several waves of polling data conducted before and after the radical actions of Just Stop Oil in 2022 (blocking the M25 motorway), the authors found that increased awareness of Just Stop Oil after their motorway protest was linked with stronger identification with and support for Friends of the Earth (an increase from 50.3% to 52.9% of the population).
This is a potentially important finding, given that Just Stop Oil themselves are very unpopular among the public and the motorway protests were badly received/reported on very negatively by most media.
However, studies exploring similar questions around protests in other countries have not always always reached the same conclusions: there is not yet consistent evidence for a ‘positive’ radical flank effect from disruptive protest.
A report commissioned by the Climate Change Committee, outlines a broad range of factors that impact people’s food choices.
It makes several recommendations for how the UK Government could encourage people to change their diets in line with net zero goals, including:
The report builds on the Behavioural Insights Team’s 12 behavioural science approaches to encouraging greener diets.
The All We Can Save project has compiled a list of resources that are designed to help people dealing with difficult climate emotions. The resources include a list of climate-aware therapists, methods to connect with feelings, networks to deal with ecological grief, and shared stories of climate anxiety. As Susi Moser writes in All We Can Save:
“Burnt-out people aren’t equipped to serve a burning planet … [so] the well-being of our hearts and souls must be reestablished to their rightful place as relevant, essential.”
In a ‘meta analysis’ of 46 studies, which had explored how hope-based messages about climate change were received by public audiences (including UK audiences), the authors concluded that:
ACT Climate Labs have released a guide to rebutting the argument that there’s ‘no point’ in the UK reducing its emissions, when countries like China or India account for a higher proportion of global CO2.
Although this argument is prevalent among opponents of climate action, encouragingly Climate Barometer tracker data shows that only a minority of the public and MPs endorse it. Much larger numbers agree that the UK should be one of the most ambitious countries in the world on climate change regardless of what other countries are doing.
Platform and Friends of the Earth Scotland have come together with a small group of offshore workers to build demands for a just energy transition. These workers developed 10 demands covering training and skills, pay, job creation, investment and public ownership.
They then surveyed over 1000 offshore workers, and over 90% agreed with these demands. Trade unions and other climate groups have also backed this vision.
This report details that work, the demands and how they can be put into practice.
A new research paper provides insights and guidance on heat risk communication and behaviour change. The authors write:
“There are a range of behaviours that people might take to avoid the negative impacts of heatwaves and very hot weather – these can involve personal protective actions during heat events (such as using a fan, adapting your clothing), preparative measures (e.g. adapting your household by installing blinds or shutters), as well as other actions like seeking out more information, temporarily moving location, or engaging in political action.
Research shows that a very broad range of factors can influence people’s engagement with heat risks. People’s perceptions and behaviours about heat can be influenced by contextual factors (like their location, their physical environment, demographics, socio-cultural influences), as well as personal level factors (like their knowledge and awareness of risks, past experiences of heat, or pre-existing health conditions).
Communication about heat risks can do much to draw on these influences, including tailoring warning messages to resonate with personal factors, drawing on the role of trusted messengers and clearly attributing risks to climate change.”
Formed by a group including some prominent previous Extinction Rebellion activists/spokespeople, the Climate Majority project responds to longstanding calls from public engagement strategists for campaigners to do more to explicitly get beyond the ‘bubble’ of supporters.
Emphasising the ‘hidden majority’ across society who care about climate change – a perspective backed up by a range of research in the past five years including Britain Talks Climate – the Climate Majority project represents a pivot from the strategy of Extinction Rebellion which argued that a critical mass of 3.5% of the population was required to rise up and create systemic change.
In a study of over 12,000 people across 32 countries, feelings of climate anxiety was linked to:
Higher exposure to information about climate impacts, was related to greater climate anxiety, but experiencing climate impacts was not. The study found that previous experience of flooding didn’t have a strong relationship to climate anxiety. The researchers suggested that:
“(T)here are important nuances in how people interpret their extreme weather experiences including politically-motivated biased cognition, and the fact that climate change is only one of several interpretive lenses with which people can choose to make sense of their experiences”.
In a collaboration between Reset Narratives, On Road Media & Rubber Republic, a wide range of climate/cost of living messages were tested in a three-stage process involving more than 10,000 members of the UK public, gauging how compelling people found the different messages, and whether they shifted respondents’ perspectives and policy preferences.
The report contains three recommended stories for linking the climate and cost-of-living crises, rather than pitting them against each other:
The UK’s potential
Now is the time for our islands, with their huge potential for wind, wave and solar power, to show the world how to tackle the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis at the same time. Both of them have the same root cause: expensive oil and gas. And both have the same solution – affordable, clean energy that’s become more and more effective and popular over the last few years.
Our children’s future
We all want our children to be secure and comfortable this winter, and in the future. But reliance on oil and gas is driving up our bills, making it harder to provide for our children today, while worsening climate change and threatening their future. The only way to be free of unpredictable energy prices permanently is to move away from expensive gas and oil and towards cheaper and cleaner renewables.
Stability and freedom
We need to be set free from unstable energy prices for good by turning to affordable, clean power and the certainty it can give us. The only way to be free of unpredictable energy prices permanently is to move away from expensive gas and oil and towards cheaper and cleaner renewables.