Majority of Britons now say climate change among biggest problems country faces

A majority (52%) of Britons now say climate change is one of the most, if not the single most, important problems the country faces – up from 46% last year, according to a new survey. 

 

This compares with 39% who place this much importance on climate change in the US, with Americans more likely than Britons to say climate change isn’t important (21% vs 14%). 

  

And while the public in both countries are somewhat more optimistic than pessimistic about stopping the effects of climate change, they are most likely to feel their nation is not making good progress on addressing it. 

  

The research, by the Policy Institute at King’s College London, Ipsos and the Climate Action Coalition, also finds there is much less of a divide in views on climate change between supporters of the two main political parties in Britain than in the US – but Reform UK voters stand out as most climate-sceptical in Britain. 

  

There is also an information gap between the two countries, with Britons much more likely than Americans to feel sufficiently informed about actions that can be taken to address climate change. 

  

And when weighing up whether to make personal changes to help tackle climate change, information about potential costs and savings are what people in both Britan and the US say would be most helpful for them. 

  

The findings come from two representative surveys of over 1,000 people in Britain and the US, conducted by Ipsos in the middle of the COP29 negotiations between 15 and 17 November. 

  

The research is published to mark the COP29 Outcomes Forum, hosted at King’s College London, which will bring together leading climate-ambitious businesses, London’s diplomatic corps, academics and policymakers to dissect the agreements made at COP29 and discuss plans for COP30 in Brazil. 

  

People are somewhat more optimistic than pessimistic about stopping climate change – but a notable minority feel the threat is exaggerated

  

By 40% to 34%, Britons are slightly more likely to be hopeful than pessimistic that we can stop the effects of climate change, when thinking about all the information they see on climate change. 

  

Similarly, in the US, 33% are optimistic, compared with 25% who are pessimistic.  

  

But around one in seven (15%) Britons and one in six (18%) Americans say the threat of climate change is exaggerated. 

  

And there is a clear gender divide in this view, with men around twice as likely as women to say the climate threat is exaggerated (GB men 20% vs women 11%; US men 24% vs women 12%). 

  

More people are negative than positive about the progress their nation is making in tackling climate change 

 

People in Britain (37%) are more likely than those in the US (27%) to say their country is making good progress on tackling climate change – but in both nations a greater proportion say their country is making not very much or no progress (GB 53%; US 51%). 

  

Labour and Conservative voters are much less divided than Democrats and Republicans on climate change… 

  

Labour voters (64%) are 17 percentage points more likely than Conservative voters (47%) to say climate change is one of the most, if not the single most, important problems facing Britain. 

  

But the equivalent gap between Democrats (66%) and Republicans (15%) is three times as high, at 51 percentage points. 

  

And while Labour (44%) and Conservative (40%) voters are similarly hopeful that we can stop the effects of climate change, Democrats (46%) are far more optimistic than Republicans (23%).  

  

In both cases, Labour (41%) and Democrat (36%) supporters also feel more pessimistic than their counterparts (33% of Conservatives and 15% of Republicans), who are more likely to feel the impact of climate change is exaggerated.  

  

Republicans are far more sceptical about climate change in general: 37% say the threat of climate change is exaggerated, compared with just 1% of Democrats who say the same. By contrast, 19% of Conservatives and 9% of Labour voters hold this view. 

  

…while Reform UK voters stand out as most climate-sceptical in Britain 

  

44% of Reform UK voters say the threat of climate change is exaggerated, considering all the information they see –double the share of Conservatives (19%) who feel this way. 

  

And nearly half (47%) of Reform UK voters say climate change is not very or not at all important, compared with 18% of Conservatives and 6% of Labour voters. 

  

Britons are much more likely than Americans to feel sufficiently informed about actions that can be taken to tackle climate change 

  

For example, 42% of Britons say they hear or see about the right amount of information on the sort of action they can take to tackle climate change, as well as practical information on how – almost double the proportion of Americans (24%) who say the same.  

  

And there is a similar divide on how much people hear or see about the progress their country is making on tackling climate change, with Britons (39%) more likely than Americans (20%) to say they’re sufficiently informed. 

  

Among those who say they receive too much information about their country’s progress in tackling climate change, around half (GB 45%; US 55%) say it’s because climate change is being used to advance a political agenda they don’t agree with. 

  

People are most keen to learn more about costs and savings linked to climate action 

  

When weighing up whether to make personal changes to help tackle climate change, people say they are most interested in receiving information about potential cost savings they could make (GB 47%; US 42%), along with information about the costs they would incur (GB 47%, US 37%). 

 

The Rt Hon Chris Skidmore OBE, Chair of the Climate Action Coalition and Chair of the Net Zero Review, said: 

  

“The growing public concern over climate change in the UK reflects the fact that, putting party politics aside, there is broad agreement that governments should be taking this issue seriously if they are to retain public confidence. As we saw in the general election earlier this year, significant gains were made across the UK by parties that understood the importance of protecting the environment. The imperative now is translating this broad yet general support into tangible opportunities to demonstrate how net zero is a triple opportunity to deliver economic growth and better jobs, cheaper bills and stronger energy security – in contrast to the high costs of foreign-owned fossil fuels that are keeping our energy prices too high.” 

  

Rachel Brisley, Head of Environment and Energy, Ipsos UK, said: 

  

“Whilst views on climate change are split in line with political allegiances, the majority of the British public and over a third of the US public consider climate change to be an important issue and are also more optimistic than pessimistic about stopping the effects of climate change.  Addressing the information needs identified through this research, specifically messaging round the costs and benefits of climate action, would benefit those interested in taking such action. Climate scepticism, however, is still very much evident and potentially reinforced by perceived linkages to political agendas.” 

  

Professor Bobby Duffy, Director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London, said: 

  

“It’s important to remind ourselves that the UK public is very different from the US, including on climate change, as this study shows. Most strikingly, we have nothing like the division between supporters of our two main political parties as we see in the US. For example, hardly any Democrats in the US think the threat of climate change is exaggerated, but 37% of Republicans do believe that, while the gaps are much smaller between UK Labour and Conservative supporters. Opinion on climate change has become extremely polarised in the US and tied to political identity of these two main parties. However, we are seeing the emergence of a clear political split in the UK, with Reform voters much closer to US Republicans, and in some cases even more climate-sceptical: 44% of Reform supporters think the climate threat is exaggerated.”