Wednesday 30 October 2019

Climate policies ‘could determine the UK’s next election’

Climate policies could determine the UK's next election.

That's the suggestion from environmental lawyers ClientEarth, which has polled 2,0001 adults from across the UK about their feelings on climate change action.

The survey shows 54% of all adults say climate change will influence the way they vote at the next general election, with 70% believing the climate emergency demands more urgent action.

Around 63% say global warming is now the biggest issue facing humanity, with the same proportion of people believing politicians are not talking enough about the issue.

The results of the poll show young people feel even more strongly, with 74% of those under the age of 25 saying it will affect the way they vote.

In terms of individual actions, 61% said they want to bring forward the 2050 deadline for reducing UK emissions to net zero, 61% said more needs to be done to encourage a shift to electric and other low-emission vehicles and 63% said politicians should introduce a ‘Green New Deal’ with large-scale, long-term investment in green jobs and infrastructure.

ClientEarth Lawyer Jonathan Church said: "It’s clear the public want to see more from the UK government: more ambition to achieve the goal of zero net emissions and more concrete action to stop current carbon reduction targets from going unmet.

“The public also wants more action locally – investment in cleaner transport and more energy efficient homes – and they want councils to fulfil their legal obligation to make carbon reduction central in local planning decisions to truly green their communities.”