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Exploring public opinion on the issue of climate change in Britain

  • Research Note
  • Published:
British Politics Aims and scope

Abstract

Addressing the effects of climate change constitutes a complex and pressing public policy challenge requiring action at the national and international levels. Securing public support for initiatives in this area is an important aim for policymakers and civil society actors concerned with the environment and sustainability. Although opinion polls and surveys consistently show proportions of the British population with sceptical views, little scholarly investigation has been undertaken into public opinion on climate change in Britain. This research note examines which factors affect citizens’ awareness of and attitudes towards climate change. It undertakes multivariate analysis of nationally representative surveys to examine the social and attitudinal correlates of climate change attitudes. Accounting for sociological background, both political-ideological attitudes and general environmental orientations have strong effects. There is a clear gap in attitudes between men and women and strong evidence of differences by level of education. Climate change scepticism is associated with factors such as being male, less well educated, supporting the Conservatives and having right-wing ideological beliefs. The findings should encourage future research on the issue of climate change in British politics.

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Notes

  1. Data available at: www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/0711ch_yougov_survey.pdf.

  2. Data available at: www.gallup.com/poll/147203/Fewer-Americans-Europeans-View-Global-Warming-Threat.aspx.

  3. Data available at www.angus-reid.com/wcontent/uploads/2011/09/2011.09.12_Climate.pdf.

  4. On the basis of a Principal Components Analysis (with Varimax rotation), factor loadings for the three items were: car travel: 0.90; air travel: 0.88; general concern: 0.79 (Eigen value: 2.20; percentage of variance: 73.44).

  5. The questions comprising the left–right and libertarian-authoritarian scales were included in the BSA self-completion questionnaire. A small proportion of individuals participating in the face-to-face interviews did not subsequently complete and return their self-completion supplements. These cases are excluded from the analysis.

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Appendices

Appendix A

Question wording for dependent variables

EB71. 1

Personally, do you think that you are well informed or not about …? Very well informed. Fairly well informed. Not very well informed. Not at all well informed.

  1. 1

    The different causes of climate change.

  2. 2

    The different consequences of climate change.

  3. 3

    Ways in which we can fight climate change.

For each of the following statements, please tell me whether you totally agree, tend to agree, tend to disagree or totally disagree.

  1. 1

    Climate change is an unstoppable process; we cannot do anything about it.

  2. 2

    The seriousness of climate change has been exaggerated.

  3. 3

    Emission of CO2 (Carbon dioxide) has only a marginal impact on climate change

For each of the following statements, please tell me whether you totally agree, tend to agree, tend to disagree or totally disagree.

  1. 1

    Fighting climate change can have a positive impact on the European economy

  2. 2

    Alternative fuels, such as ‘bio fuels’, should be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

  3. 3

    You personally have taken actions aimed at helping to fight climate change.

DEFRA 2009

And thinking now about your overall attitudes towards energy usage and climate change, which of these statements best reflects how you currently feel? I do not believe there are climate change problems caused by energy use and I am not willing or able to change my behaviour with regard to energy use. Whether there are climate change issues or not, I am not willing or able to change my behaviour with regard to energy use. Climate change is caused by energy use and I am beginning to think that I should do something. Climate change is caused by energy use and I am doing a few small things to help reduce my energy use and emissions. Climate change is caused by energy use and I am doing quite a number of things to help reduce my energy use and emissions. Climate change is caused by energy use and I am doing lots of things to help reduce my energy use and emissions. Do not know.

BSA 2009

Please tell me how much you agree or disagree with each of these statements:

  1. 1

    The current level of car use has a serious effect on climate change.

  2. 2

    The current level of air travel has a serious effect on climate change.

  3. 3

    And how concerned are you about the effect of transport on climate change? Very concerned. Fairly concerned. Not very concerned. Not at all concerned.

Appendix B

Measurement of independent variables

Gender :

Dummy variable coded 1 if male, 0 if female.

Ethnic group :

Dummy variable coded 1 if white ethnic group, 0 if other (except EB71.1).

Age :

Measured as a continuous variable.

Religion :

BSA 2009: a series of dummy variables measuring religious affiliation (Anglican, Catholic, other Christian denomination, other religion, no religion).

Area :

Dummy variable coded as 1 if lives in a rural community, 0 if lives in an urban area (except BSA 2009).

Education :

EB71.1: series of dummy variables measuring age finished full-time education (15 or under; 16–19 years; 20 and over; still in education)

BSA 2009: A series of dummy variables measuring highest qualification obtained (first degree or higher; below degree level, A-levels or equivalent; GCSEs/equivalent or lower; no qualifications).

Occupation :

EB 71.1: A series of dummy variables measuring labour market status (self-employed; manager; white collar; manual worker; unemployed; economically inactive).

BSA 2009: A series of dummy variables measuring occupational status (managerial and professional; intermediate; employer in small organisations/self-employed; lower supervisory and technical; semi-routine or routine; other).

Social class :

DEFRA 2009: Dummy variables measuring social grade, based on the British market research classification (A, B, C1, C2, D and E).

Ideology :

EB71.1: Scale measuring position on a left–right dimension (where 1=most left-wing and 10=most right-wing).

BSA 2009: A pre-existing composite scale (ranging from 1 to 5) of five items measuring left–right beliefs. Higher scores represent more authoritarian beliefs.

BSA 2009: A pre-existing composite scale (ranging from 1 to 5) of six items measuring liberal-authoritarian beliefs. Higher scores represent more right-wing beliefs.

Economy :

EB71.1: composite scale (ranging from 6 to 18) measuring prospective economic expectations (six items in relation to: national economy; European economy; world economy; personal job situation; household finances; national employment situation) (Cronbach's α=0.75). Higher scores denote more optimistic assessments.

DEFRA 2009: a composite scale (ranging from 3 to 15) comprising current assessments of the economic situation (national; world; household). Higher scores denote more optimistic assessments (Cronbach's α=0.57).

Discussion :

EB71.1: Composite scale (ranging from 3 to 9) measuring how often respondents discuss national/European/world political matters (Cronbach's α=0.86).

Newspaper :

DEFRA 2009: A series of dummy variables measuring what type of newspaper a respondent reads regularly (tabloid, broadsheet, other newspaper, no newspaper).

BSA 2009: A series of dummy variables measuring what type of newspaper a respondent reads regularly (tabloid, broadsheet, no newspaper).

NEP scale :

DEFRA 2009: scale (ranging from 5 to 20) comprising four items – a reduced version of the revised 15-item NEP scale (Cronbach's α=0.60). Higher scores denote more pro-ecology feelings.

Lifestyle (1) :

DEFRA 2009: scale (ranging from 1 to 3) asking individuals how they ‘feel’ about their lifestyle and the role of the environment. Higher scores denote more environmentally friendly responses.

Lifestyle (2) :

DEFRA 2009: scale (ranging from 1 to 5) asking individuals how they would ‘describe’ their lifestyle and the role of the environment. Higher scores denote more environmentally friendly responses.

Issue imp. :

DEFRA 2009: a dummy variable measuring whether a respondent thinks ‘environment/pollution’ is an important issue that government should be dealing with. Coded as 1 if mentions ‘environment/pollution’, 0 if does not mention it.

Knowledge :

DEFRA 2009: composite scale (ranging from 5 to 25) measuring knowledge about different aspects of the environment (climate change; global warming; carbon footprint; CO2 emissions; biodiversity). Higher scores indicate higher levels of environmental knowledge (Cronbach's α=0.86).

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Clements, B. Exploring public opinion on the issue of climate change in Britain. Br Polit 7, 183–202 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1057/bp.2012.1

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