Support for net zero is plateauing, not plummeting

When, if and how to talk about ‘net zero’ has been on a lot of people’s minds this year.

Politically, the term has been at the centre of a collapse in the cross-party consensus on climate change. Media hostility has ramped up.

But despite intensifying campaigns against net zero by opponents of green policies, our tracker shows support for the 2050 net zero target holding steady.  

Our latest data suggests that public backing for net zero is plateauing rather than plummeting, and support is still more than double opposition. The outliers are Reform supporters, who are disproportionately exposed to anti-net zero rhetoric from Reform politicians and Reform-sympathetic media.

But while Conservative MPs have largely followed their current leader in turning on the 2050 target, their remaining supporters haven’t.