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Public First and Onward tested the support of 24 policies which would cut greenhouse gas emissions (some were existing government policies and some were not). All 24 received net-positive ratings looking across all voters, with energy efficiency measures, ramping up renewables (wind and solar), incentivising green home upgrades, planting trees, investment in public transport, and policies to help people switch to electric cars all proving highly popular.
Conservative voters currently did not support the phasing out of sales of new petrol/diesel cars by 2030 or gas boilers by 2035, but the report argues that:
Importantly, opposition is to targets and deadlines rather than the technologies
Understanding which net zero policies are consistently popular among the electorate is as important as understanding what the current barriers to support are for less popular policies: ‘win win’ ideas such as incentivising home upgrades/rolling out insulation are a way to hold the net zero conversation with voters on less contentious ground than, for example, low traffic neighbourhoods.
More in Common’s new Shattered Britain report details climate opinion in the context of changing views across the nation.
The report shows that despite clear dividing lines in their broad worldviews, 6 out of 7 UK segments are ‘more worried than not’ about climate change – and believe the government is ‘not doing enough’ to tackle the crisis.
Whilst only 21% of the public opposed the 2050 net zero target, views on whether net zero Britain should be achieved by means of a strict target are far more varied, with only Progressive Activists clearly speaking out on its behalf. The piece also finds a decoupling of net zero and climate support across segments.
This echoes Climate Barometer data about government action on climate change, and the growing disconnect between net zero and climate opinion.
Commentary & Analysis
11th December 2024
A story – told through data – of the climate discourse in the UK.
New public polling: Behind the noise on net zero
With new tracker data being launched, we show how the solid support for climate action has become disconnected from the ‘noise’ surrounding net zero.