IN LONDON: There has been a substantial decline in the UK public’s sense of urgency regarding achieving net zero emissions, according to a new study by the Policy Institute’s King’s College London.
In the new study – Declining urgency, ensuring support: Public attitudes to net zero and climate policy – the share of the public who believe the UK needs to reduce its carbon emissions to net zero sooner than 2050 fell from 54% in 2021 to 29% in 2025.
However, overall a majority (64%) believe that the UK Government’s target for net zero should be at least 2050, if not earlier.
The UK Government has set out a binding commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The strategy involves a 68% reduction by 2030, an 81% reduction by 2035 and comprehensive decarbonisation across all sectors.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions were 476 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2024, representing a 43.3% decrease to 1990 levels. The manufacturing sector saw the largest emissions decrease among industries, with emissions falling by 7.4% from 70 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2023 to 65 million tonnes in 2024.
Meanwhile, the transport sector’s emissions increased by 4.5%, continuing a general rise for this industry since 2021.
The Policy Institute says the proportion who feel the UK either doesn’t need to hit its 2050 net zero target or shouldn’t have a target at all roughly trebled between 2021 and 2025, from 9% to 26%, respectively.
The study also found that more than half of the participants (59%) aged 16 to 39 felt the UK should achieve net zero sooner than the government’s 2050 target in 2021. In 2025, only 37% still hold this view.
Middle-aged people hold similar views, with the belief no longer the majority view among those aged 35 to 54. In 2021, some 54% believed the UK needs to reduce its carbon emissions to net zero sooner than 2050, in comparison to only 31% in 2025.
Those aged 55+ are also less likely to believe the UK needs to reduce its emissions target sooner, from 49% in 2021 to 21% in 2025.
The study also reveals that 64% of people say there is a great deal or fair amount of tension between climate change sceptics and climate change believers in the UK. In comparison, 52% now say the same of leavers and remainers, as the perception of Brexit divides healing has grown in recent years.
Of the seven groups asked about, only two – supporters of different political parties and immigrants and people born in the UK – are seen as currently having more tense relations.
Around six in 10 or more of all age groups say such tensions exist, with those aged 55+ most likely to feel this way.
Professor Bobby Duffy says the urgency people feel and their willingness to support policies that might affect their daily lives or finances have faltered.
“This is also reflected in an emerging political divide on this issue: Reform UK voters stand apart from all other groups, with just a quarter supporting net zero by 2050 or earlier, and less than half saying they’re worried about climate change at all,” Duffy says.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
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