Public finds green warnings a bore

The public is bored of hearing about climate change and think the media spends too much time writing about CO2 emissions, according to a new survey.


The YouGov poll, conducted for the Environmental Transport Association, found more than half of the people quizzed said they are bored of climate change, with men twice as likely as women to switch off when the “c-word” is mentioned.

Nearly a third want to see less coverage in the media – presenting another challenge for politicians and green groups in the fight against climate change, the association said.

The poll’s results were published just days before Chancellor Alistair Darling was expected to announce a raft of green measures in this year’s Budget.

The association said ministers needed to take action to solve climate change if public apathy is to be reduced.

“It is understandable that people are getting bored by endless green talk that is never translated into action,” said Andrew Davis, director of the Environmental Transport Association.

“Increasing public apathy is a real concern for those of us in the environmental movement.

“The challenge for Alistair Darling in his Budget is to take action that matches his green rhetoric.”

The online survey, which polled more than 2,000 adults earlier this year, also found 6% of people are indifferent to media coverage of carbon emissions.

Four per cent admitted they do not fully understand what CO2 is and another 4% have managed to miss the media coverage of the subject altogether.

Kate Martin

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