Public should be forced to act on climate change - new poll

12 May 2008

A majority of voters believe local councils should force their residents to take action on climate change, according to a new poll published today.

The Local Government Association, a cross-party organisation representing councils in England and Wales, commissioned ComRes to determine the public’s attitudes towards global warming and the role local authorities should play in tackling it.

The survey found 56% of respondents thought that councils should force people to take action on climate change while 33% did not. 64% of respondents also felt that local authorities should introduce financial incentive schemes to encourage people to reduce greenhouse gases, and 53% felt councils should also introduce penalty schemes for residents who do not act.

A large majority of respondents – 74% - believe climate change is happening and can be attributed directly to greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activity. The poll also found:

• 63% are aware of their council taking positive action to tackle climate change
• 76% of people agree or strongly agree that local councils have a key role to play in combating climate change, and 77% think it is part of their role
• Women are less likely to be in favour of incentives to encourage people to reduce their emissions – but are more likely to support penalties to combat this
• More people would be likely to vote for a candidate in local elections that had policies to combat climate change (62%) than in a general election (61%)
• 70% believe climate change should be one of the top five priorities for their council

Commenting on the findings, Cllr Paul Bettison, Chairman of the Local Government Association Environment Board, said:

“This survey indicates a growing awareness of the threat posed by climate change and support for action to combat it. The British public is concerned about global warming and believe this should be a priority for local councils.

“Candidates for local and general elections ignore policies to combat climate change at their peril.  There is clear support across the country and all age groups for action to be taken at a local level to tackle global warming.”

Commenting on the findings that people believe councils should force their residents to take action on climate change – and introduce financial incentive and penalty schemes – Cllr Bettison said:

“Families understandably wonder why they should stop flying abroad for their summer holiday when they see other people driving everywhere in a gas guzzler. People would doubtless be inclined to recycle more if they were confident all their neighbours were making the same effort.

“Local people clearly want to reduce their carbon footprint, but expect the state to help them do this and ensure their efforts are not undermined by freeloaders. Councils are on the frontline in the fight against climate change, and there is an immense amount of public willingness that can be harnessed to tackle this vitally important issue. It is only councils that have both the knowledge of a local area and a strong connection with households.”

Councils are increasingly treating climate change as a priority in their areas and building them into local plans. The LGA Independent Climate Change Commission, which published a report in December 2007, found councils could help cut carbon emissions by 150 million tonnes of C02 a year, contributing to the national target of up to 32% reductions that central government has pledged to achieve by 2020. The report also found that it if all councils made their buildings and vehicle fleets carbon neutral they would save 5.5million tonnes every year.

In response to the Commission’s findings, the LGA launched a climate change campaign last month – Small Change, Big Difference – which encourages the local government sector to do more, seeks greater powers for councils and aims to influence public opinion and behaviour.

Ends

NOTES TO EDITOR:

A full breakdown of the responses is available on request.

Author: LGA Media Office
Contact: Matt Nicholls, 0207 664 3053