A new survey has claimed that public concern about climate change and environmental issues saw a jump in priority this summer, but inflation and the economy remain top concerns.
The issue now ranks joint third in the list of public priority with the NHS, which saw a drop of eight percentage points since July.
The findings come after many media headlines in July were dominated by claims of extreme temperatures, wildfires, and ocean warming across the world.
The government also recently signalled a softening of “green” policies owing to cost pressures facing households, prompting backlash from pro-green-policy MPs, some environmental groups, and scientists.
The Ipsos Issues Index, which is conducted monthly, gathered the opinions of 1,004 adults across Great Britain between Aug. 2 and 7.
It found that the economy and inflation remain the two biggest issues with 37 percent of Britons mentioning each.
The proportion of people mentioning the economy rose by seven percentage points since last month, with almost a quarter (23 percent) seeing it as the single most important national concern.
Meanwhile, concern about immigration is at its highest level since 2017, hitting 23 percent after a two percentage point jump since July.
A Major Issue for Both Sides of the Debate
Mike Clemence, a researcher at Ipsos, said: “Climate change and the environment has risen to become seen as the joint-third biggest issue facing the country this month, and news reports about wildfires and extreme temperatures disrupting holidays are a likely cause.“Elsewhere we see a small rise in concern about immigration, with worry strongly centred among Conservative Party supporters and older people.
“However, economic issues continue to lead public concern, with worry about the state of the economy rising this month, particularly for Labour Party supporters and the middle classes.”
Speaking to The Epoch Times, Lois Perry, director of pressure group CAR26, said: “The Net Zero Referendum poll CAR26 did with YouGov [in November 2022] shows that in actual fact the public are seeing through the green nonsense and want out. ‘Fear propaganda’ is coming thick and fast in the mainstream media. But a general malaise is setting in.
“In the UK, political parties are scrambling to tone down their slavishness to net zero—particularly over ULEZ after the by-election, so they are electable. The public have had enough of the green nonsense and not buying all the alarmism.”
Scrutinising UK Commitments
Last month, Downing Street made clear that ministers are scrutinising existing net-zero pledges “in light of some of the cost-of-living challenges,” citing the potential for technological advances.He has insisted that granting the licences is “entirely consistent” with the UK’s commitments to net zero, despite campaigners calling it “wrongheaded.”
Speaking on the issue of the UK’s commitments to achieve net zero by 2050, Ms. Perry added: “We simply don’t believe that CO2 is the climate knob. So costly net-zero policies are not only pointless, they distract amorally from tackling real challenges like conservation, pollution, clean water, poverty, health, and wealth.
“We doubt there is any climate crisis but even if there were, the war on CO2 is a pointless response, it’s irrelevant.”
