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A new research output by Climate Outreach shows that support for adaptation action significantly increases when people are shown tangible solutions, such as heat-proofing our homes and restoring natural flood defences.
The piece – based on a survey of 7,000 people across Britain (carried out in 2025) and in-depth focus groups across the UK – found that:
The findings echo Climate Barometer tracker data which shows that adaptation and mitigation are supported equally, as well as past research by Climate Outreach/Cardiff University showing that the public see these broad responses as ‘two sides of the same coin’.
A new piece by Local Storytelling Exchange brings together people’s experiences of extreme weather: from tree planting to preventing waterlogged cricket pitches, to shading schools from the rising heat. Amidst growing climate impacts, Exchange are sharing stories and multimedia content to highlight how people in Britain are already adapting to extreme weather, including heatwaves, drought and floods – and spotlighting that they can’t do it alone. Here are a couple of quotes from contributors:
“It’s really challenging when you have relatively small classrooms with up to 30 children and multiple adults. When it’s over 30 degrees in the summer, it’s suffocating.”–Rona Mackie, head teacher at Guildford Grove Primary School
“Houses in Scotland are built to retain heat, which is great in the winter, but it’s problematic if you’re getting temperatures of 30 degrees and your flat is sitting at 27 or 28 degrees for a few days on end. The consequences of that could be massive ” – Dani Waddell, manager of Crossroads Youth and Community Association (also covered in the Glasgow Times)
New survey data shows that nearly three quarters (71%) believe the government should make adapting to climate risks like floods, heat, and droughts an “urgent, top priority”, while only a minority (15%) disagreed.
The findings, from a nationally representative UK survey in collaboration with Flooded People, highlight the public desire for action on impacts like floods, storms, heat and drought.
While experts in the climate sector separate out ‘adaptation’ and ‘mitigation’, our new data shows that a majority (55%) think these two broad responses should be prioritised equally (echoing our previous tracker insights).
The survey also showed that most people report one or more direct experience of climate impacts. Heatwaves and extreme heat are the most commonly experienced climate impact (felt by 46%). A third have experienced ‘severe storms’ (30%), and a fifth say they have been directly affected either by flooding or poor air quality (both 21%). It’s less than a third (29%) who still say they have “no experience of impacts” at all.
New data from Public First shows that the public believe that climate risks – are becoming more frequent and severe. Nine in ten (87%) expecting the UK to be impacted again in the next five years.
The public feel the UK is least prepared for flooding (70% said not prepared), closely followed by heatwaves (68%). Dry spells and drought (66%), wind storms (66%), and cold snaps (57%) were also seen as areas of unpreparedness.
Most believe that better planning could reduce the severity of weather impacts, but many are not sure what that looks like in practice. When asked directly, a majority (60%) say it is ‘possible’ to reduce the effect of climate impacts, but they are uncertain of how.
The link between climate impacts and net zero isn’t always easy to explain, but it matters. We need to cut emissions to limit the worst effects of climate change. But for many people, the link between net zero and real-world impacts like extreme heat or flooding can feel abstract or distant. So how can we make the link?
As part of his first annual climate statement to Parliament, Miliband warned that the climate crisis cannot be ignored. He called out politicians rejecting net zero as “betraying future generations” and said the shared commitment to tackling climate change “must not disappear by default”.
Climate action as a way of staying true to future generations echoes the public’s view on why tackling climate change matters. As Climate Barometer data shows, when asked what they thought were the most convincing arguments for pursuing net zero, Britons were most likely to select the idea that “We owe it to our children and grandchildren to take action to reduce our emissions now; otherwise it is they who will suffer the most” (35%).
This focus on protecting future generations also aligns with what makes climate change feel most urgent to people. New research shows that presenting climate impacts in binary terms is more effective in making it seem more real and imminent than showing average trend data. As extreme weather events gradually become more frequent and severe due to climate change, people tend to become accustomed to the new normal, also called the ‘boiling frog’ effect, and struggle to identify abnormal weather patterns over time.
Presenting climate change in binary terms helps to overcome that. In the study, people found a graph showing whether a fictional lake froze each winter more impactful than a chart of rising average temperatures in a fictional town. This research highlights how important it is to use clear before-and-after examples when talking about climate impacts.
Alongside message testing which suggests it’s helpful to frame climate impacts as “unnatural disasters” while making clear links to policies, these insights could help make climate communication resonate with the British public’s real and sustained concerns.
As the UK’s third summer heatwave drew to a close, Ed Miliband used his first annual climate statement to Parliament to warn of the growing impacts of climate breakdown in the UK, backed by the Met Office’s latest State of the UK Climate report.
The report shows how extreme weather is now the norm in the UK, with data from hundreds of weather stations revealing that the hottest days are becoming more frequent and severe, and intense rainfall has increased.
In the face of rising climate impacts, UK-based researchers are calling for more measures that simultaneously tackle the root causes of climate change, while enabling society to adapt.
Efforts to tackle climate change have tended to prioritise mitigation (reducing emissions) over adaptation efforts (reducing vulnerabilities), and these two broad types of measures are often split across government departments, such as Defra and DESNZ in the UK.
But new research, using the UK’s record-breaking 40C heatwave in 2022 as a case study, has found clear demands for national and local governments to roll out measures that combine mitigation and adaptation.
Policy-makers, climate organisations, and those working in emergency response felt that approaches – such as creating climate-resilient neighbourhoods, tree-planting and other nature-based solutions – should be a priority, given their dual benefits. They felt efforts to combine emissions reductions and adaptation have challenges, but were feasible, with better coordination.
The new analysis also suggests that framing these efforts as part of working towards a ‘climate resilient net zero’ can be a useful way of engaging a range of relevant audiences and decision-makers – building on existing support for net zero.
The study findings are supported by Climate Barometer tracker insights, which shows that both the public and MPs feel mitigation and adaptation are equally important. It also echoes previous work which found that the public view mitigation and adaptation as “two sides of the same coin”.
Commentary & Analysis
28th November 2023
People increasingly understand climate change as happening in the ‘here and now’. But there is a long way to go before the severity of climate risks is fully appreciated, and people are fully supported in preparing for and adapting to impacts.
The National Trust – with a huge portfolio of land and historic properties that faces a wide range of risks from a changing climate – has released a report which includes a call for a new Climate Resilience Bill, putting adaptation on the same footing as mitigation (which they argue has a ‘unifying focus’ on net zero).
Research shows that people beyond specialist circles do not make a clear distinction between mitigation and adaptation, and see worsening climate impacts as one of the most motivating reasons for decarbonising faster. When asked directly whether the UK government should prioritise adaptation or mitigation, the most popular answer (around half of the survey respondents) in a 2020 poll was that both should be of equal focus.
A new report explores the personal experiences of climate change by people of colour in the UK.
Charles Ogunbode and colleagues report that awareness (and reported experience) of climate change is high: 92% of British people of colour believe that climate change is happening, 61% report experiencing impacts of climate change, and 85% are really worried about the impact of climate change in places other than the UK.
The impacts of climate change experienced by British people of colour in the UK include heat waves (over 60%), severe snow disruptions (25%) and flooding in their local area (20%).
Beyond self-reported experiences of extreme weather, some disproportionate effects of climate change are harder to document – the report notes that London’s Black African and Caribbean population are the most exposed to air pollution, which causes approximately 40,000 deaths per year in the UK, and contributes to many adverse health conditions.
Reviewing research on climate adaptation behaviours, a report prepared by the CAST centre for the Climate Change Committee concluded that most people know very little about how they can prepare for changes such as extreme heat, droughts, or flooding. The authors highlight that it is important for politicians to clearly communicate what types of behaviours are most effective in preparing for a changing climate, and provide advice tailored to the type of risk, alongside other measures like financial incentives for homeowners.
June-August 2023 was the “warmest on record globally by a large margin, with an average temperature of 16.77°C, 0.66°C above average.” In addition “August 2023 was the warmest August on record globally, and warmer than all other months except July 2023”.
The public want urgent action on floods, heat, and droughts