According to results of a new survey published today (Friday 11 June 2010), despite a decline in concern about climate change, the majority of the British public still believe the climate is changing and say they are prepared to act on this.
As the new Government begins to get to grips with the task of meeting its climate change obligations while also renewing the energy supply system for Britain, new survey results published today report the British public’s attitudes towards these issues.
The research represents the first independent nationwide survey of these topics since the winter controversies over climate science, and finds that belief in climate change remains high although the numbers believing this has decreased with time.
The study reveals:
- That a clear majority of the British public believe that the world’s climate is changing and express concern about this. Although these majorities have decreased since the
- Researchers last surveyed in 2005 most remain willing to take action on climate change
- People are currently somewhat more supportive of nuclear power than in 2005, although significant concerns and negativity remain. The British population clearly holds much stronger preferences for renewable energy.
The survey reveals very high levels of concern about energy security issues.
Professor Nick Pidgeon, from Cardiff University’s School of Psychology, who led the research team, explained that “the country is faced with a range of critical decisions on both climate change and energy production and use which will affect us all. Whether new nuclear power, major wind farms, or encouraging people to conserve energy, we need to understand how public attitudes will impact on decisions. This new research helps us to understand how public views on these issues are changing”.
The study, which is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Leverhulme Trust, surveyed a representative sample of 1,822 people across England, Scotland and Wales and was carried out by researchers from School of Psychology and the Welsh School of Architecture at Cardiff University, in conjunction with Ipsos MORI.
The detailed results are being presented and discussed at a meeting on Friday 11th June at the Royal Society in London, and include the following key findings:
Beliefs about Climate Change
- The majority of respondents (78%) consider that the world’s climate is changing. This represents a significant fall from the very high levels (91%) who believed this in 2005.
- Most people (71%) remain either fairly or very concerned about climate change (compared to 82% when asked in 2005).
- Significantly, given recent media controversy surrounding climate change science, a proportion (40%) do consider that the seriousness of climate change is exaggerated, although the majority (57%) still believe that most scientists agree that humans are causing climate change.
- A majority (65%) say they are prepared to reduce their energy use to tackle climate change and most (68%) state they would probably or definitely vote in favour of spending taxpayers’ money on British projects designed to tackle climate change.
Beliefs about Energy Security
- The public is highly concerned that the UK will become too dependent in the future on importing energy from other countries (81% concerned) while over three-quarters (78%) are concerned that electricity will become unaffordable.
Beliefs about Nuclear Power
- The proportion of the sample who agree that the benefits of nuclear power outweigh its risks has risen to 38% in 2010, compared with 32% who said this in 2005.
- On replacement of British nuclear stations 46% favoured this and a similar proportion did not (47%).
- Support for nuclear rises in the context of climate change or energy security with 56% of respondents (compared to 55% in 2005) willing to accept the building of new nuclear power stations if it would help to tackle climate change.
Beliefs about Renewable Energy
- Renewable sources (wind and solar power) remain strongly favoured forms of electricity production.
- However, only 39% of the sample currently favour the construction of a Barrage across the Severn (with 24% slightly or strongly opposed to this proposition).
Commenting on the results, Professor Pidgeon added: “The results do show a rise in those who hold doubts about the reality of climate change, although this may not be as significant as some had first feared. We were surprised to see the very high levels of concern about energy security, and conclude that support exists for an energy policy framed around both the future security of supplies and realistic action to address climate change. In terms of developing a low carbon energy economy for Britain, renewables are clearly favoured whilst nuclear power remains unpopular but may be accepted alongside the development of a range of other energy sources.”
The research was funded with additional support from The Leverhulme Trust (www.leverhulme.ac.uk).
