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Since the earliest investigations into public opinion on climate change, it’s been clear that the public expect and want the government to take the lead on climate change.
Famously, the UK’s Climate Change Act was world-leading when it was first passed – and in 2019, the central target was upgraded from an 80% cut in emissions to net-zero emissions by 2050.
But although claims of political leadership have persisted – including around the UK’s hosting of the annual UN climate conference in Glasgow in 2021 – periodic assessments by the Climate Change Committee have in recent years highlighted a slowing of progress, and explicitly called for the UK to ‘regain its international political leadership’.
Set against historically low trust in politicians and widespread disengagement from the political system, people nonetheless consistently say that the government should be doing and spending more on climate change.
This thread brings together relevant opinion data around political leadership (from the public and MPs through our Climate Barometer tracker), set against key policy developments that help make sense of if, how and why opinion is changing.
The majority of British people are unsure which party has the best climate policies, according to the Britain Talks Climate toolkit.
“Despite high levels of concern overall, the majority of segments are not engaging with climate change in terms of politics or policies. When asked which UK party they felt had the best climate change policies, the most frequent response from most segments was either “none of the above” or “don’t know”. Progressive Activists and Civic Pragmatists were exceptions, with the majority citing the Green Party as having the best climate policy.”
The ambiguity people feel about which political party has the best climate policies is an invitation to make a clearer offer to the electorate.
