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The UK has legally binding commitments to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. But in terms of building support for the specifics of the transition, the journey has only just begun.
Roughly 60% of emissions cuts will need to come through changes to the way that energy is consumed if net-zero targets are to be achieved. This means how people think and feel about the transition to net-zero is central to how fast (and how fairly) the transition takes place.
From the phase out of new petrol and diesel cars (and phase in of electric vehicles), to the installation of heat pumps and retrofitting of insulation, reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 requires ongoing public support and a broad political mandate.
The Climate Change Committee has been clear that the government needs to empower and inform households and communities to make low-carbon choices, and calls for a step-change in government approaches to public engagement reflect the scale of the emissions cuts that must come through people supporting and undertaking shifts in behaviours (e.g. eating less meat) or adopting new technologies (e.g. heat pumps).
How is opinion on net zero in the UK evolving?
Commentary & Analysis
11th December 2024
A story – told through data – of the climate discourse in the UK.
Commentary & Analysis
10th November 2024
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)
Public support for climate policies – from heat pumps, to home insulation, to electric vehicles – has always been about a lot more than just having access to the right facts.
Someone might like the sound of an EV, but not (yet) be able to afford it. Plenty of people have heard scare stories about heat pumps (although the views of people who actually know someone who has had one installed, tend to be more positive).
But a number of recent polls – from ECIU and Climate Barometer’s tracker – shine a light on the importance of building familiarity with EVs, because misconceptions abound.
For example, ECIU polling found that more than 5 in 10 (54%) petrol car drivers think EV drivers run out of charge at least once a year but, in reality, more than 8 in 10 (82%) of EV drivers report never running out of charge.
This is a significant misperception sitting behind the ‘range anxiety’ sometimes cited as a reason not to switch to an EV.
Climate Barometer polling tested a range of ‘anti-net zero’ narratives and soundbites, and found very few of them currently have any cut through with the public. But there was one exception: 40% of people say they don’t think EVs are more environmentally friendly than cars (when in fact they are).
And this wasn’t the only misconception about EVs.
When people were reminded that only new vehicles (not second hand ones) will be phased out after 2030, there was a 9% increase in people saying that the phase out would not affect them at all.
Support for the phasing out of petrol and diesel cars was higher (+5%), and opposition is lower (-6%) when people were reminded that it is only new vehicle sales which must be zero emissions by 2030 (39% support, 38% oppose), compared to support without the prompt about second-hand vehicles (34% support, 44% oppose).
This is a statistically significant difference.
Commentary & Analysis
4th September 2024
Following the General Election, there is a clear uptick in support for the country’s net zero targets. Support for net zero by 2050 is at its highest point in almost 2 years, yet enthusiasm for some flagship policies hasn’t yet caught up.
The new Labour government has brought its plans for a publicly owned energy company, Great British Energy, to parliament.
The Great British Energy Bill was formally introduced to the House of Commons on the 25th of July, and the bill is expected to pass through its second stage in early September.
Following a long-standing commitment to base the energy company in Scotland, Labour have since announced GB Energy will be headquartered in Aberdeen.
Commentary & Analysis
9th July 2024
In the wake of the 2024 General Election results, what do MPs need to bear in mind in terms of voters’ climate opinions?
Labour won a large majority in the 2024 General Election, increasing the number of Labour MPs in Parliament to 412. The Labour win was delivered on an historically low turnout, and via a small rise in Labour’s vote share compared to 2019.
The result ushers in a government that will be (relatively) bolder on climate and net zero policy, compared to the outgoing Conservative government, who sustained their worst ever electoral defeat. Parliament now has a number of new pro-climate MPs, not only in Labour but in the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party (both of which saw surges in their vote share). Reform UK, the only party standing on an anti-net zero ticket, also saw a surge in support.
Commentary & Analysis
1st July 2024
People of colour in the UK are disproportionately affected by climate change impacts. But despite this, there remains a lack of research around diversity, experience and engagement with climate change.
Following sharp criticism from the Climate Change Committee (which said the Scottish government was failing to deliver on its net zero goals and had no credible delivery strategy), a target to reduce the country’s emissions by 75% by 2030 was dropped.
The Scottish Net Zero Cabinet Secretary Màiri McAllan said she “accepted” the target was no longer achievable.
The Scottish National Party (SNP) seemed reluctant to concede the target they had set was now impossible to achieve. This stands in contrast to the rhetoric deployed by Rishi Sunak in September 2023 when he announced delays to some UK-level net zero goals, positioning them as a ‘burden’ that the government would protect voters from.
The fallout from the SNP’s announcement was immediate and significant.
The SNP’s power-sharing coalition with the Scottish Green Party was dissolved days later, with disagreement over the decision to scrap the 2030 target cited as one of the reasons for the breakdown of the agreement. Humza Yousaf subsequently resigned as First Minister.
Some commentary suggested that the disagreement over the climate targets reflected the divisiveness of net zero in Scotland, but a poll conducted whilst all of this was unfolding underscored the support among Scottish voters for the country’s net zero ambition.
Commentary & Analysis
18th April 2024
Without winning a single seat, Reform UK could seriously disrupt the dominant discourse on net zero.
While Climate Barometer tracker data shows that overall public awareness about heat pumps is low, it seems that misinformation runs through what the public do claim to know about heat pumps.
An article from Carbon Brief summarises the top myths about heat pumps circulating among the British public and media discourse, including that 24% think running a heat pump costs more than a gas boiler, and 20% think heat pumps only work in new homes (Good Energy poll).
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.