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Financial Times journalist John Burn-Murdoch writing on X (formerly Twitter) reported that:
The British public is much more supportive and united on Net Zero policies than the public in peer countries, with Conservative voters frequently as green as the centre-left elsewhere
A new report from the think tank Onward Power to the People argues that proposals for local renewable energy projects are much more likely to receive support if they provide community benefits to the local area.
Of the rural voters surveyed for the report, 43% of rural voters would already support local renewable energy projects without any community benefit. But an additional 37% would support development if they came with community benefits.
Polling of SNP voters by the campaign group Stop Cambo found that 70% agree that the UK should ‘get off oil and gas as quickly as possible’ by ramping up efforts to improve energy efficiency and developing lots more renewable energy.
In an example of the ambiguity that phrases like ‘as quickly as possible’ can sometimes mask, though, whilst 45% supported a ban on new exploration for oil and gas, almost the same number (39%) did not. Overwhelming support for greater investment in renewables among the public does not directly correlate with increasing opposition to oil and gas extraction.
There is, though, widespread support for ensuring communities are ready and able to benefit from the transition away from oil and gas (62%) and that workers are given more assistance in the transition to green jobs (86%).
This YouGov tracker shows that support for government spending to develop solar power is consistently high (around 70-80%), and opposition is low (between 8-11%).
The image of Britain “split down the middle” on issues of local renewable development projects is not, according to research by More in Common, an accurate depiction of public opinion.
In focus groups with communities in two regions where green energy developments have been presented as contentious and controversial in local media, they report that:
“Most Brits are balancers, tired of the loudest voices dominating debates, and eager for us just to get on with it quietly, less talk, less fuss and more action.”
While renewable energy projects are often positioned as controversial, and do attract some loud minority opposition, these conversations suggested people were often not aware of planned developments, and were typically broadly supportive when offered the chance to reflect on them.
OFFSHORE is an independent documentary that explores what the coming energy transition means for workers and communities around the UK North Sea.
The film looks at how communities and regions have been impacted by past industrial decline, the risks workers face in an increasingly precarious industry and how they can organise for the future.
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.
In a poll of 34 countries, Britons are the most supportive of government subsidies for renewables, with 65% in favour. However, higher taxes on gas and oil were nowhere near as popular, likely reflecting ongoing concerns about the cost of living, and an illustration of the nuanced views that the public holds on phasing out oil and gas.
YouGov’s biannual tracker of support for various forms of energy generation shows that wind and solar have had the highest support since 2019, with nuclear overtaking solar in recent years. Coal and gas receive consistently low support over time.
Methodology Note: These percentages are lower than other surveys that measure support for different forms of energy generation individually. This survey requires that people choose one out of all options, rather than asking people outright whether they support any particular energy generation source.
In a wide-ranging and in-depth analysis of how the UK public views low-carbon lifestyle changes, in the context of reaching net zero, the CAST centre (Climate Change & Social Transformations) reported on a set of ‘deliberative’ workshops (discussion groups) with members of the public.
The workshops covered four topics: ‘how we heat our homes’, ‘the food we eat’, ‘the products we buy’ and ‘how we travel’.
In contrast to the snap polling that is commissioned in the wake of policy announcements, this approach to understanding public opinion provides participants with the chance to discuss, reflect on and consider the nuances of behavioural changes in the context of net zero.
Summaries for each of the four topics above are presented in the report. In contrast to media commentary and political strategy positioning climate behaviours as part of the ‘culture wars’, one overall conclusion was that personal choices and freedoms are important, but people are willing to engage in low-carbon lifestyles in a way that is proportionate to their own circusmstances:
“Personal choice and freedoms are important aspects underpinning public preferences. In many cases people preferred options that made environmental choices easier rather than restricting choice. Strong negative reactions were only noticeable for strategies which were perceived to take away choice completely, such as meat-free diets, no access to individual car ownership, or living in smaller homes. While these more ‘radical’ strategies do not enjoy high public acceptance, people are willing to consider the principles that underpin them, especially if supported by other actors. For example, most participants were unwilling to consider becoming vegetarian or vegan, but were willing to consider how they could reduce their meat intake. Similarly, living car free was not considered acceptable or feasible by most participants, however they did want to reduce their dependence on cars generally and were open to other modes of transport.”
The Climate Change Committee, responding to the government’s inclusion of ‘climate compatible checkpoints’ for new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea as part of its recent Net Zero Strategy, concluded that:
“The best way of reducing the UK’s future exposure to these volatile prices is to cut fossil fuel consumption on the path to Net Zero – improving energy efficiency, shifting to a renewables-based power system and electrifying end uses in transport, industry and heating. Any increases in UK extraction of oil and gas would have, at most, a marginal effect on the prices faced by UK consumers in future”
Ahead of hosting the UN climate change conference (COP26) the UK government has released a length net zero strategy, which includes new oil and gas licensing in the North Sea, so long as they pass a ‘climate compatible’ check point.
The Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) have published a survey showing MPs overestimate public opposition to onshore wind power. They report:
Just 8% of Members of Parliament know that onshore wind farms are now the cheapest way to add electricity generating capacity in the UK. For comparison, 12% believe that large nuclear power stations, like Hinkley Point C, provide the cheapest new capacity.
The poll also shows that MPs consistently overestimate opposition to onshore wind. The most recent Government survey shows that just 2% of the population strongly opposes the technology – but only 9% of MPs think that the figure is less than 5%. Over half of MPs (52%) believe the level of strong opposition to be above 20%.