The UK public is now significantly more concerned by climate change that it was only a few years ago, according to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funded research, led by Cardiff University.

Related to this, and of increasing prominence are issues around storms, flooding and, in particular, heat impacts, and this suggests there is strong support for policies to address these.

“This is a remarkable shift in British public opinion – the biggest change we’ve seen in recent years,” said Professor Nick Pidgeon, from Cardiff University’s School of Psychology, who led the project.

The study, based on 1,401 nationally representative respondents to a survey conducted in October 2019, found 23 percent of the sample said climate change was the most pressing issue facing Britain in the next two decades, second only to, and only marginally behind, Brexit (on 25 per cent). This figure was only 2 per cent (and ranked 13th) in response to an identical question in 2016.

A third of respondents reported feeling anxiety, fear, and outrage “very much or quite a bit” when thinking about climate change, and climate change scepticism is now very low. Around two thirds (64 per cent) feel that Britain is already feeling the effects of climate change (as compared to 41 per cent in 2010).

Storms and flooding remain the highest perceived risks, but there was a surge in concern over heat risks with 72 per cent believing that heatwaves are now a serious problem for the UK (compared to 23 per cent in 2013).

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