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Taking on the NIMBYs. Beating the blockers. The end goal is commendable, but is this how UK voters would like to be described?
(This commentary has been adapted from a published opinion article in Politics.co.uk)
Since July, the UK has seen a fresh new government come into power that, recent polling suggests, is greener than ever when it comes to supporting ambitious climate action. At the same time, public support for net zero is at a two year high.
The new Labour government has announced big plans to make the UK a “clean energy superpower”, and is now under pressure to deliver on their promises to roll out renewable energy across the UK, and to do so at speed.
And while on the face of it, signs look positive, rumblings of concern about the rapid expansion of pylons and onshore energy may only grow if the government does not take steps to ensure that legitimate concerns are heard. Public support for net zero is critical, but it is not a blank cheque: rolling this out in practice requires a two-way process to address concerns and questions.
A rapid clean energy rollout is necessary to achieving the UK’s net zero targets. And, equally, people are – rightly – invested in and attached to the place where they live, and want to feel like they have a say in what happens to it. This means we need to stop trying to ‘take on the NIMBYs’ and start talking with people who are genuinely trying to have a say in what happens to the places they care about.
Labels such as ‘NIMBY’ are sticky. The term has been decried as being insulting, dismissive and inaccurate – as opposition is often not related to geographic location, and some polling on housing projects suggests most Britons are neither NIMBY nor YIMBY. Climate Barometer polling shows that the actual levels of ‘NIMBY’ responses in polling around new renewables are far lower than both the public or MPs believe it to be.
It’s also counterproductive. Name-calling over concerns about local power projects not only dismisses and shuts down legitimate worries, but can lead to people doubling down on their initial reactions, further cementing divisions. And despite the many calls for its retirement, the term emerges with a vengeance every time an issue of local initiatives arises. Can this Labour government be the one to move beyond NIMBYism once and for all?
Crucially, local support for renewables is actually very high among the British public, although this is routinely underestimated by both the public and politicians. Public opinion is more skewed towards the positive with eight in ten Britons supporting the construction of offshore wind farms, and large majorities of the public consistently viewing the prospect of renewable energy projects in their local area (including pylons) favourably.
Given that support for new local infrastructure among the public is so high, stoking division unnecessarily is not a wise move. By over-emphasising the number of people who genuinely object to clean energy infrastructure, as opposed to people who want and expect to be properly consulted about where and how these new technologies are developed, there’s a risk of fanning the flames of misperception.
Media headlines declaring ‘a war on nimby’s’ pushes an us vs. them agenda, whereas proper consideration and public engagement is a major part in legitimising, as well as determining the success of new infrastructure projects. If Labour is genuinely committed to turning its green energy ambitions into reality, then they need to put community engagement at the centre of energy policy not as an adjunct to planning reform.
So, what does actively involving the community in decision-making processes around renewable energy projects actually mean?
True public participation of stakeholders and the community is not lip service, or rolled out once all decisions have been made. These traditional approaches to community engagement, which ‘inform’ the public without guaranteeing that public voice will hold any sway in decision-making, can worsen the issue. More inclusive forms of public participation engage early, incorporate community input throughout the project planning and design process, build trust in the long term, and involve locally embedded staff members.
Through these processes, local energy infrastructure can be constructed with an understanding of the significance of the local context, or ‘place’ in which new infrastructure is being proposed (e.g. unique rural identity) and can ensure that what is valued is not disrupted.
A big part of this is not treating the ‘community’ as a monolith, and ensuring that public participation initiatives reach diverse groups, for instance by engaging pre-existing local networks and establishing community consultation committees. Research shows that social identities and networks are far more important in determining whether someone will support or oppose new energy infrastructure than physical proximity.
The Climate Barometer tracker also shows that the majority of Britons want greater involvement in decision-making from the beginning.
This is not an easy task, as new energy infrastructure needs to be rolled out across many local areas across the UK. But it is a crucial one. The time taken to do it properly will not be wasted – and may even prove to be a shortcut in the end.
If the government does not take local consultation seriously, then they leave the door open for the politicians who will see an opportunity to weaponise community concerns into a harder sense of opposition. Name calling will ultimately backfire – whether that’s in a bumpier road to delivering on the government’s renewable energy promises, greater polarisation around energy and climate initiatives, or in public concerns finding the ears of their opponents instead.
Few policies to reduce emissions are more popular than home insulation.
Whether motivated by a desire to avoid ‘waste’, a reduction in energy bills, or a passion to protect the environment, preventing heat from seeping out of our houses is something that most people can get behind.
So the recent murmurings around the government’s Warm Homes Plan (specifically to reduce funding for insulating houses) don’t chime with popular opinion: Climate Barometer data shows that nearly three-quarters of the public (72%) support incentives and investment for homeowners and landlords to improve home insulation, compared to only 5% who oppose these. Similarly, 3 in 5 Britons (60%) are in favour of financial support to low income families to help them afford ‘green’ home upgrades like insulation.
The Treasury’s response will come in the autumn budget that looks set to be dominated by discussions about general taxation.
But Climate Barometer data shows that MPs are just as favourable towards insulation measures as the wider public: 85% support incentives and investment for homeowners and landlords to improve home insulation and 78% back financial support to low income families to help them afford ‘green’ home upgrades like insulation.
In the run up to this year’s party conference, Reform party’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, urged investors to halt new offshore wind projects, despite news of a record high in green energy approvals. Labour condemned the move as “outrageous and unpatriotic,” warning it undermines investor confidence. But does Reform’s stance align with wider opinion?
Support for offshore wind remains very high in the UK – around three quarters of the public consistently have supported this form of renewable energy over recent years. Even Reform’s support is strong, with the majority of the party’s backers expressing a favourable view of offshore wind (60%). This support extends to other renewables infrastructure too – such as solar power (68%).
A majority of Reform backers also say they would support such new renewables in their own areas as well – 55% would support onshore wind farms, 58% solar energy parks, and 51% would support new pylons and power lines for carrying renewable energy. Part of the issue here is the ‘perception gap’ around renewables – while 3 in 5 Brits support local renewable energy infrastructure projects, neither MPs nor the public realise how strong that support is.