1 January 2022 | New Scientist | 23Views
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AST year saw a wave of
climate change coverage
and record levels of public
concern. One poll found that
40 per cent of people in the UK
thought climate change was the
most important issue facing the
country, and a major 30-country
study found similar results, with
most people in most countries
now worried about climate
change. They wanted both
government and personal action
to address the problem. These
are uncharted waters for public
opinion across the planet.
This is a welcome development
and it is long overdue. But it
represents the start, rather than
the finish line for public opinion.
Dig deeper and some important
planks of the transition to net zero
start to look a little shakier.
UK polling in the wake of COP26
found that 62 per cent of people
thought the UK – as hosts of the
conference – should be one of the
most ambitious in the world on
climate change, regardless of what
other nations are doing. But only
half that number were clear on
what politicians were actually
offering. Internationally,
awareness of plans to tackle
climate change is generally low.
To avoid public concern
curdling into cynicism, political
leaders must visibly practise what
they preach. Otherwise, worries
about the costs of living – and how
the price tag of decarbonisation
will be shared – will be weaponised
by small but noisy groups who
SIMhave shifted from challenging
ON
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OT
ELL
A
Comment
the science to criticising the
costs of transition.
In reality, the price of not acting
is much greater, but the cost of
transitioning to net zero must be
distributed fairly or the process
will quickly unravel, and here
people are eager to understand
what a fair role for them is.
Around the world, individuals
are increasingly willing to play
their part in the shift ahead.
But research from the Climate
Engagement Partnership shows
that only 13 per cent of the UK
public are clear on what “people
like them” can do to reduce the
country’s carbon emissions. Andsupport falls away when surveys
emphasise how low-carbon
policies could hit people’s wallets.
Nearly 70 per cent of people
in the UK support “frequent-flyer
levies” in the abstract, for
example, but this drops to 30 per
cent if it costs them more to take a
flight. In fact, a frequent-flyer levy
would only apply to frequent
flyers (in the UK about 70 per cent
of flights are taken by 15 per cent
of the population). This is all
the more reason for governments
to be clear about what a fair
transition looks like, before
misinformation and
scaremongering takes hold.In countries around the world,
there are shared misconceptions
about how effective different
individual actions are. Most
citizens typically underestimate
the significance of reducing air
miles, so clarity from political
leaders about not only what they
are doing, but what can reasonably
be expected of voters, is key.
The UK-based think tank
Onward created a Net Zero Index
for gauging support for different
policies once their likely cost,
impact on carbon emissions and
relative urgency are taken into
account. While graduates and
high earners were very supportive
of net-zero policies and willing
to pay higher taxes and prices,
non-graduates and people in low-
income and lower socio-economic
groups were more hesitant.
Some take this as a sign that
the public rejects net-zero policies,
but it should be seen as an
invitation to make the costs fall
fairly. The challenges are similar
globally, and celebrating record
levels of climate concern is
toasting yesterday’s victories.
From lifestyle choices like
forgoing flights, to who sees the
benefit of investment in green jobs,
the most important challenges
for retaining public support on
the road to net zero are now
about getting the details right. ❚Climate change’s shadow
Polls show that global warming has rocketed up the priority list for
the public, but there is still much to do, says Adam CornerAdam Corner is a
writer and researcher
specialising in climate
and communication