A recent YouGov poll commissioned by WWF-UK shows an increased level of concern around climate change and a call for more action to be taken to combat it.
The poll showed that 37% of people believe that the recent floods across the UK were caused as a result of the phenomenon, but that there is little understanding of the best ways to cut carbon emission and create a greener future.
Speaking about the floods, Andy Williamson, group managing director for IKO commented: “The UK Met Office says the world is likely to be even warmer this year and ‘by the end of 2016, we will have seen three record or near-record years in a row for global temperatures.’ A warmer atmosphere contains more moisture and energy, so climate change means more violent storms and extreme rainfall.”
Additionally, and in light of the recent United Nations agreement to limit global temperature increases, 44% of the public believe the Government has done too little to reduce UK emissions but the public is not well-informed about the costs of possible solutions.
The poll showed further confusion about which sectors contribute most to climate change as emissions generated by energy use in buildings – the second largest source of carbon dioxide emissions after power generation – are greatly underestimated by the public and their representatives.
More people believed that transport (excluding aviation) was the primary source of carbon dioxide emissions, when in reality these generate fewer emissions than buildings.
Emma Pinchbeck, head of climate and energy at WWF-UK said: “The Paris agreement showed that people understand that we must act on climate change. Today’s polling underlines that climate skeptics are out of touch with UK opinion, despite the extraordinary amount of airtime they still receive.
“A national drive on energy efficiency would help raise awareness of cheap solutions that will cut bills and help save the planet.”
