In numbers: the UK public’s attitudes towards climate change

In late July, environmental law firm ClientEarth and YouGov surveyed more than 2,000 UK adults on attitudes across a spectrum of climate-related questions. With the survey released on Monday (20 August), edie rounds-up the relevant facts and figures.


Undertaken by YouGov and commissioned by environment lawyers ClientEarth, the survey quizzed 2,005 UK adults on questions ranging from climate finance to personal desires to install low-carbon technologies at home.

With recent heatwaves finally alerting the public of the severity of climate change, the survey sheds new light on what the public views as the main drivers and barriers towards a low-carbon economy.

ClientEarth has embroiled the UK Government in various legal battles over a perceived lack of environmental stewardship and it appears that the public agrees that policymakers should be doing more to steer the agenda.

“These results make it clear that the British public wants action on climate change, and urgently,” ClientEarth’s chief executive, James Thornton, said. “People in this country also see a strong role for the courts in holding business and the government to account if they don’t act quickly enough.

“These results also have strong implications for business: the litigation risk for fossil fuel companies and those who invest in them is likely to grow and investors should take note – the costs of defending actions on climate change are likely to be substantial and the damages involved, should a company be required to pay, could be enormous.”

Acting as the “first thorough investigation of UK attitudes towards the deeper issues of climate change”, the survey acts as a snapshot on climate-related needs and desires. Here, edie rounds up the key facts from ClientEarth’s survey.

In numbers: the UK public’s attitudes towards climate change

Matt Mace

Comments (1)

  1. Lynne Colston says:

    Can we use this survey to ask the same questions on a more local level

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