Official Statistics

DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker: Net Zero and climate change, Summer 2024, UK

Published 29 October 2024

The DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker is a nationally representative annual survey of adults (aged 16+) in the UK that tracks public awareness, attitudes and behaviours relating to the policies of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), such as energy and climate change.

This report provides a summary of the headline findings relating to Net Zero and climate change from the Summer 2024 wave of the Tracker, which ran from 11 July to 15 August 2024.

Notes for interpretation of findings

Differences between groups are only reported where they are statistically significant at the 95% confidence interval level.

The annual personal income referred to in the report is a self-reported measure.

The age-related findings are reported using six age groups (16 to 24 years, 25 to 34 years, 35 to 44 years, 45 to 54 years, 55 to 64 years and those age 65 years and over). In some cases, findings across age groups have been combined to describe a general trend. In these situations, a range of the percentages for these combined age groups is provided for reference. For example, ‘Between 78% and 88% of people aged 45 and above’ refers to the range of percentages for the three age groups 45-54, 55-64 and 65+.

Two summary self-reported measures are used in this report:

• ‘Awareness’ encompasses all respondents who said they had heard of a particular concept or technology, including those who said ‘hardly anything but I’ve heard of this’, ‘a little’, ‘a fair amount’ or ‘a lot’.
• ‘Knowledge’ encompasses those who said that they know ‘a fair amount’ or ‘a lot’ about a topic.

Awareness of Net Zero

In June 2019, the government announced a target which will require the UK to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to Net Zero by 2050. Before asking level of awareness, respondents were provided with a brief description as follows: ‘The UK government is aiming to reduce UK greenhouse gas emissions to ‘Net Zero’ by 2050. This will involve significantly reducing emissions produced by our industries, transport, food, and homes. Any remaining emissions will be balanced by actions that reduce greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere, such as planting trees’.

In Summer 2024, there was no change in awareness of Net Zero since Spring 2024: 91% of people said they had heard of the concept (Figure 1.1). However, knowledge was slightly lower than Spring 2024: 50% said they knew a lot or a fair amount (down from 53% in Spring 2024), and 15% said they knew a lot (down from 17%).

Figure 1.1: Awareness of the concept of ‘Net Zero’ (based on all people), Autumn 2021 to Summer 2024

NZKNOW. The UK government is aiming to reduce UK greenhouse gas emissions to ‘Net Zero’ by 2050. This will involve significantly reducing emissions produced by our industries, transport, food, and homes. Any remaining emissions will be balanced by actions that reduce greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere, such as planting trees. Before today, how much, if anything, did you know about the concept of ‘Net Zero’?

Base: All wave respondents – Autumn 2021 (5,558), Winter 2021 (3,705), Spring 2022 (4,374), Summer 2022 (4,489), Autumn 2022 (4,158), Winter 2022 (3,572), Spring 2023 (4,405), Summer 2023 (3,998), Winter 2023 (3,741), Spring 2024 (4,085), Summer 2024 (3640) (Asked each wave)

Overall awareness of Net Zero was higher for people in age groups 45 and over (between 94% and 96%), particularly compared with those aged 16-24 (79%). The proportion who said they knew a lot or a fair amount was highest among those in age groups 55 and over (56% for both age groups), compared with those in all age groups under 45 (between 41% and 48%).

By education, the percentage of those reporting any awareness of the concept of Net Zero was highest for those with a degree (96%) compared with those with another kind of qualification (90%) and those with no qualifications (86%). A similar pattern was observed for self-reported knowledge: 67% of those with a degree said they knew a fair amount or a lot compared with 44% of those with another qualification and 34% of those with no qualification.

By geography there was little difference in overall awareness of the concept of Net Zero, but self-reported knowledge was highest in London (61% saying they knew a fair amount or a lot), and lowest in the West Midlands (41%) and Northern Ireland (37%).

Attitudes towards Net Zero

In Summer 2023 and Summer 2024, people were asked about attitudes towards Net Zero in terms of anticipated impact on the UK economy and perceived confidence in ability to meet the Net Zero target.

The questions were preceded by the following introductory text: ‘And now thinking again about the UK government’s aim to reduce UK greenhouse gas emissions to Net Zero by 2050 to tackle climate change. This will involve large changes to the way we produce and use energy in homes, businesses and transport.’

Similar to Summer 2023, people were more negative (37%) than positive (23% up from 21% in Summer 2023) about the short-term (1-2 years) impact of Net Zero on the UK economy. However, long-term expectations were more positive, with people more positive (54%) than negative (20%) about the longer term (10 years or more) impact.

While long term expectations remained more positive, the proportion expecting a negative impact had increased slightly to 20% from 18%.

Figure 1.2: Expected impact of UK’s transition to Net Zero on UK economy (based on all people), Summer 2023, Summer 2024

NZTRANSITA-B. What impact do you think the UK’s transition to Net Zero might have on the UK economy?

Base: All wave respondents – Summer 2023 / Summer 2024: Short term (3,969/3,627), Long term (3,975/3,623)

Younger people were most positive about the impact of Net Zero transition on the UK economy. People in all age groups under 45 were more likely to expect a positive impact in the short-term (between 27% and 28%) compared with those aged 65 and over (17%), with a similar difference in relation to long-term impacts: 62% to 65% of those in age groups under 35 expected a positive impact compared with those in age groups 55 and over (47% to 49%).

By education, people with a degree were more likely to expect a positive outcome both in the short term (28% compared with 22% of those with no qualifications) and in the longer term (66% compared with 41%, respectively). However, it is worth noting that those with a degree were also more likely to expect a negative impact in the short term (38% compared with 31% with no qualifications), although there was no difference by educational attainment for longer-term expectations.

By geography, people in London were most likely to expect a positive impact both in the short-term (33% compared with 23% overall) and the long-term (63% compared with 54% overall). On the other hand, those in the East of England were more negative than average about short-term impacts (45% felt the impact would be negative compared with 37% overall).

A further question was asked about the expected impact of Net Zero transition on regular living expenses. In Summer 2024, 65% of people said they expected this would lead to an increase in living expenses in the short-term, down slightly from 69% in Summer 2023 (Figure 1.3). Only 8% expected a decrease in living expenses the short term.

People were more positive about the impacts of Net Zero transition in the longer-term with 27% expecting that Net Zero will lead to a decrease in living expenses (up from 25% in Summer 2023). However, people were still almost twice as likely to expect an increase (48%) than a decrease (27%) in regular living expenses.

Figure 1.3: Expected impact of UK’s transition to Net Zero on regular living expenses (based on all people), Summer 2023, Summer 2024

NZFINANCEA-B. And what impact do you think that the UK’s transition to Net Zero might have on your regular living expenses (for example energy, food, travel)?

Base: All wave respondents – Summer 2023 / Summer 2024: Short term (3,979/3,633), Long term (3,974/3,622)

While there was little difference by level of education in short-term expectations, those with a degree were more likely to expect a decrease in living expenses over the longer-term (36% compared with 22% those with other qualifications and 23% of those with no qualifications).

People in London were more likely than most other regions to expect a decrease in living expenses in the long-term (35% vs 27% overall). On the other hand, people living in Scotland (54%), the South East (53%), Northern Ireland (52%) and the North East (51%) were all more likely than London (40%) to predict an increase in living expenses over the longer-term.

People with a self-reported annual personal income of £30,000 or more were slightly more likely to expect an increase in living expenses in the short-term (69% to 70% across these income bands) compared with those with an income below £15,000 (65%). However, those with an income of £50,000 or more were more likely to expect a decrease in the long-term (34%) compared with those in income bands below £30,000 (24% to 28%).

People who said they knew at least a fair amount about Net Zero were more likely than those who were unaware of Net Zero to expect an increase in living expenses in the short-term (70% compared with 52%). Over the long-term, however, those with more knowledge were more likely to expect a decrease (32% and 20%, respectively).

Confidence in the UK’s ability to meet the Net Zero target has improved between Summer 2023 and Summer 2024. In Summer 2024, 20% of people said they were fairly confident or very confident that the UK is on track to meet the Net Zero target by 2050, up from 17% in Summer 2023 (Figure 1.4), driven by an increase in the proportion who were fairly confident (18% up from 15%). Conversely, there was a decrease between Summer 2023 and Summer 2024 in the proportion who were not very confident or not at all confident (69%, down from 71%), driven by a decrease in the proportion who were not at all confident (19%, down from 26%).

Figure 1.4: Confidence that UK is on track to meet Net Zero target by 2050 (based on all people), Summer 2023, Summer 2024

NZCONF. How confident are you that the UK is on track to meet its Net zero target by 2050? 

Base: All wave respondents – Summer 2023: (3,999), Summer 2024 (3,640)

People aged 55 to 64 were more likely to say they were not very confident or not at all confident (78%) compared with those in age groups under 55 (64% to 69%) and those aged 65 and over (69%).

People with a degree were more likely to say they were not at all confident (23%) compared with those with other qualifications (17%) or no qualifications (19%).

By geography the proportion who were not very confident or not at all confident was highest in the South East (77%) and Scotland (73%) and lowest in the East of England (64%), West Midlands (63%) and London (62%).

Those who said they knew at least a fair amount about Net Zero were more likely to say they were not very confident or not at all confident (75%) compared with those who knew at most a little (66%) or who were unaware of Net Zero (52%).

Concern about climate change

In Summer 2024, 80% of people said they were very or fairly concerned about climate change, with 37% very concerned (Figure 1.5). In total, 19% of people said they were not very concerned or not at all concerned, although very few (4%) said they were not at all concerned.

Overall concern has remained stable since Winter 2023, however concern has fallen over time compared to the higher levels observed at the start of this time series (83% to 85% between Autumn 2021 and Autumn 2022).

Figure 1.5: Concern about climate change (based on all people), Autumn 2021 to Summer 2024

CLIMCONCERN. How concerned, if at all, are you about climate change, sometimes referred to as ‘global warming’?

Base: All wave respondents – Autumn 2021 (5,557), Winter 2021 (3,701), Spring 2022 (4,375), Summer 2022 (4,490), Autumn 2022 (4,158), Winter 2022 (3,571), Spring 2023 (4,405), Summer 2023 (3,998), Winter 2023 (3,739), Spring 2024 (4,086), Summer 2024 (3,644) (Asked each wave)

People aged 65 and over were more likely to say they were very concerned (43%) compared with those in all younger age groups (34% to 38%).

People with a degree were more likely to say that they were very concerned about climate change (49%) compared with those with another kind of qualification (33%) or no qualifications (28%).

By geography, the proportion reporting they were very concerned was highest in London and the South West (45%), and the South East (42%). It was lowest in the North West (30%) and the West Midlands (28%).

Attitudes towards climate change

Annually, in summer survey waves, people have been asked how much they agree or disagree with a range of attitude statements about climate change (Figure 1.6).

The majority of people agreed that collective action can help reduce climate change (84%) and that they have the ability to make changes to help mitigate against climate change (72%). However, a half (52%) believe that the amount of conflicting information about climate change makes it difficult to know what to believe and a third (33%) believe that the media exaggerates the impacts of climate change. Just over a third (35%) think that it is not worth taking actions to reduce climate change unless others do the same.

There has been a decline over time in how much people feel they can personally contribute to mitigate against climate change. In Summer 2024, people were less likely to agree that they personally have the ability to make changes to help reduce climate change (72%, down from 74% in Summer 2023 and 76% in Summer 2022) and more likely to agree that it’s not worth making changes if others do not do the same (35%, up from 32% in Summer 2023 and 28% in Summer 2022).

Figure 1.6: Attitudes towards climate change (based on all people), Summer 2022, Summer 2023, Summer 2024

CCATTA-E. How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

Base: All wave respondents – Summer 2022/Summer 2023/Summer 2024: Everyone does their bit (4,484/3,984/3,632), I have ability (4,474/3,976/3,632), So much conflicting information (4,475/3,984/3,633), Media exaggerates (4,473/3,981/3,634), Not worth doing (4,470/3,979/3,637)

There were a number of demographic subgroup differences across the five attitudinal statements:

• Agreement that ‘I have the ability to make changes in my life that could help reduce climate change’ was highest in London, Yorkshire and the Humber and the East Midlands (75% across all three) and lowest in the East of England (64%). Agreement with this statement was also higher for those with a degree (79%) compared to those with no qualifications (64%).
• People in age groups 55 and over (39%-40%) were more likely to agree that ‘It’s not worth doing things to help reduce climate change if others don’t do the same’ compared to those in age groups 16-24 (22%) and 25-34 (28%). On the other hand, those with a degree were less likely to agree with this (29%) compared to people with no qualifications (45%).
• Those with a degree were also more likely to agree that ‘If everyone does their bit, we can reduce the effects of climate change’ (86%) compared to people with no qualifications (81%). Agreement was highest in the South East (87%) and lowest in the West Midlands and North West (81% across both) and London (82%).
• Agreement with the statement, ‘There is so much conflicting information about climate change’, was higher for those in age groups 55 and over (58% for both age groups) compared to those in age groups under 35 (46% for both age groups). Agreement was also higher in the East Midlands (67%), North East (59%) and Northern Ireland (59%), and the West Midlands (58%) and lowest in London (37%).
• Agreement that ‘The media exaggerates the impacts of climate change’ was highest in Northern Ireland (41%), the North East (39%) and the East Midlands (39%) and lowest in the East of England (27%). Older people in age groups 55 and over (39%-40%) were also more likely to agree with this compared to younger people in age groups under 35 (22%-28%).

Behaviours to tackle climate change

Annually, in summer waves, respondents are asked about various behaviours adopted in their everyday life.

In Summer 2024, almost all people reported at least one of the actions listed in Figure 1.7 (98%), unchanged from the previous two summer waves. Actions to minimise waste were most reported, with 86% of people saying they recycled household waste, and 78% that they avoided or minimised throwing away food. A similar proportion reported minimising energy use at home (79%). Similar to previous waves, a lower proportion reported thinking about energy efficiency when making a product purchase (49%, down from 52% in Summer 2023).

In terms of transport behaviours, 51% said they chose to walk or cycle rather than using a car, while 41% said they used public transport instead of a car (up from 34% in Summer 2022 and 37% in Summer 2023). Just over one in ten (12%) said that they drove an electric or hybrid car (up from 10% in Summer 2023).

Figure 1.7: Behaviours related to reducing climate change adopted in everyday life (based on all people), Summer 2022, Summer 2023, Summer 2024

CCBEHAVE. Thinking now about your everyday life, do you do any of these things? Please select all that apply.

Base: All wave respondents – Summer 2022 (4,488), Summer 2023 (3,999), Summer 2024 (3,643)

The three most reported behaviours (recycling, minimising food waste, minimising energy use) were less likely to be reported by those under 25 than all other age groups. For example, the proportion recycling household waste ranged from 72% of those aged 16-24 to 92% of those aged 65 and over.

Those in age groups 45 to 64 were more likely to report thinking about energy efficiency when making a purchase (55% to 57%) compared with those aged 16-24 (25%). People aged 45 to 64 were also more likely to say they drive an electric or hybrid car (15%-16%) compared with people 65 and over (9%) and those in age groups under 35 (7% to 10%).

In contrast, those aged 16-24 were more likely to report using public transport (56%) compared with those in age groups 45 to 64 (35% for both age groups).

All behaviours were reported more by those with a degree compared with those with other qualifications and no qualifications. The largest differences were for choosing to walk or cycle instead of using a car (61% with a degree compared with 46% with other qualifications and 45% with no qualifications) and for thinking about energy efficiency of purchases (59% with a degree compared with 48% with other qualifications and 32% with no qualifications).

There were different regional patterns across the different types of behaviour:

• Recycling behaviours were highest in the North East (93%), Wales (91%) and Yorkshire and the Humber (91%) and lowest in London (83%) and the West Midlands (79%).
• Using public transport was highest in London (74%), followed by Scotland (45%) and lowest in Northern Ireland (37%), the East of England (35%), Wales (34%) and the South West (27%).
• Thinking about energy efficiency of purchases was highest in the South East (59%) and South West (55%) and lowest in Scotland (42%) and Northern Ireland (36%).
• Choosing to use public transport instead of a car was also higher for those living in urban (45%) than rural areas (27%).

All behaviours listed in Figure 1.7 were reported more by those who said they were very concerned about climate change and those who said they knew at least a fair amount about Net Zero. For example:

• Choosing to walk or cycle instead of using a car was more likely to be reported by those very concerned about climate change (62% compared with 39% of those not concerned).
• Thinking about energy efficiency of purchases was reported more by those very concerned about climate change (64% compared with 29% of those not concerned) and those who said they knew at least a fair amount about Net Zero (61% compared with 41% of those knowing a little or hardly anything and 17% of those not aware of Net Zero).
• Minimising energy use at home was highest by those who knew at least a fair amount about Net Zero (86%) compared with 77% of those knowing a little or hardly anything and 55% of those not aware of Net Zero.

Behaviours thought to have the biggest impact on tackling climate change

Respondents were presented with a list of actions that people can take in their everyday life and asked to identify up to three that they thought would have the biggest impact on tackling climate change in the UK (Figure 1.8).

The top two climate change mitigation actions selected were installing low carbon heating systems at home (42%) and choosing to walk or cycle instead of using a car (40%). Almost four in ten mentioned minimising energy use at home (37%), installation of insulation/draught proofing (31%) and choosing public transport over a car (31%). The lowest ranked options included recycling, driving an electric or hybrid car, minimising food waste and thinking about energy efficiency when purchasing products.

The overall pattern of results was similar to previous waves. However, there have been some changes over time. The most notable changes are a rise in the proportion selecting choosing to use public transport over a car as a climate change mitigation behaviour (from 22% in Summer 2022 to 31% in Summer 2024) and a decline in the proportion mentioning minimising food waste (from 22% in Summer 2022 to 17% in Summer 2024). It is also worth noting that over time there was a small increase in the proportion who say that none of these behaviours help tackle climate change: a significant rise from 3% to 5% between Summer 2022 and Summer 2023 and remaining stable at 6% in Summer 2024.

Figure 1.8: Behaviours thought to have the biggest impact on tacking climate change in the UK - up to three responses were selected (based on all people), Summer 2022, Summer 2023, Summer 2024

CCIMPORT. If most people in the UK did the following, which three of these do you think would have the biggest impact on tackling climate change in the UK? Please select up to three responses.

Base: All wave respondents – Summer 2022 (4,491), Summer 2023 (3,958), Summer 2024 (3,607)

The oldest and youngest age groups were more likely to select using public transport as a main climate change mitigation behaviour: 35% of those aged over 65 and 38% of those in age groups under 25 compared with all other age groups (24% to 29%). Those in age groups under 35 were more likely to select driving an electric or hybrid car (32% to 33%) compared with those in age groups 55 and over (22%).

In terms of energy saving at home, those in age groups 45 and over were more likely to select insulation and draught proofing as a main behaviour (34% to 38%) compared with those aged 16-24 (20%). In contrast, those aged 16-24 were more likely to select low carbon heating systems (51%) compared with those in age groups 55 and over (38% to 41%).

People with a degree were more likely than those with no qualifications to select installing a low carbon heating system (49%, compared with 34%), installing insulation (41% compared with 21%), using public transport (35%, compared with 29%), and driving an electric car (27%, compared with 21%). In contrast, those with no qualifications were more likely than those with a degree to select recycling as a climate change mitigation behaviour (35%, compared with 21%).

Owner-occupiers were more likely than renters to select installing low carbon heating (46% vs 34%) and insulation (36% vs 23%). However, renters were more likely than owners to think that both choosing to walk or cycle instead of using a car (47% vs 37%) and recycling household waste (32% vs 24%) were top mitigation behaviours.

Those who said they knew at least a fair amount about Net Zero were more likely than those who were not aware of Net Zero to select installing low carbon heating systems (50%, compared with 28%) and installing insulation (43%, compared with 10%) as a main mitigation factor. In contrast, those who had not heard about Net Zero were more likely than those who said they knew at least a fair amount to select choosing to walk or cycle (52%, compared with 32%) and recycling (39%, compared with 21%).

Information on tackling climate change

In Summer waves, people are presented with a range of potential sources of information and asked about their level of trust in each to provide accurate information about climate change (Figure 1.9). Overall trust is defined as trusting each source ‘a great deal’ or ‘to some extent’.

In Summer 2024, scientists at universities (85%), and scientific organisations (83%) remained the two most trusted sources of accurate information on climate change, with around four in ten saying that they trusted these each ‘a great deal’ (42% for scientists in universities, 40% for scientific organisations). TV and radio documentaries remained the third most trusted source (72% overall) while TV news and charities were trusted by around two thirds (65% and 63%, respectively), followed by UK Government (57%), newspapers (43%) and social media (18%).

There have been some changes over time in patterns of trust. Between Summer 2023 and Summer 2024, there was a decline in overall trust for scientific organisations (83%, down from 87%) and charities and environmental groups (63%, down from 66%). However, an increase in overall trust over this period was observed for UK Government (57%, up from 50%), newspapers and their websites (43%, up from 40%) and social media (18%, up from 15%).

Figure 1.9: Trust in sources of information to provide accurate information on climate change (based on all people), Summer 2022, Summer 2023, Summer 2024

CCTRUSTA-H. How much do you trust each of the following to provide accurate information about climate change?^{[footnote 1]}

Base: All wave respondents – Summer 2022/Summer 2023/Summer 2024: Scientific organisations (4,463/3,967/3,620), Scientists at universities (4,464/3,973/3,614), TV & radio documentaries (4,464/3,965/3,623), Charities and environmental groups (4,458/3,965/3,621), TV news (4,468/3,973/3,630), UK Government (4,457/3,966/3,616), Newspapers (4,456/3,972/3,625), Social media (4,443/3,946/3,619)

In general, older people were the least trusting of a range of different sources to provide accurate information about climate change. For example, people in age groups 55 or over were less likely than those in age groups 16-35 to trust scientists (82%, compared with 88%-90%), charities and environmental groups (54%-59%, compared with 68%-73%), and social media (7%-13%, compared with 20-34%). People in age groups 55 and over (52-56%) were also less likely than those aged 16-24 (66%) to trust the UK Government to provide accurate information on climate change.

With the exception of social media, people with a degree were more likely than those with other qualifications or no qualifications to trust all sources to provide accurate climate change reporting. For example, 65% of those with a degree said they trusted the UK government, compared with 52% of those with other qualifications and 51% of those with no qualifications. Trust of social media was higher for those with other qualifications (21%) than among those with a degree (15%).

By geography, trust in accurate climate change reporting was highest in London for a number of sources including TV news (71% compared with 65% overall), charities, environmental and campaign groups (69%, 63%), the UK government (65%, 57%), newspapers (54%, 43%) and social media (24%, 18%). For a number of sources, trust was lowest in the North West, including scientific organisations (76% compared with 83% overall), TV and radio documentaries (64%, 72%), TV news (62%, 75%), charities, environmental and campaign groups (58%, 63%) and newspapers (36%, 43%).

Again, with the exception of social media, trust in accurate climate change reporting was higher for all sources among those very concerned about climate change compared with those not concerned. The largest difference was for TV news: 77% of those very concerned compared with 36% of those not concerned.

Further findings on Net Zero and climate change

In previous waves, questions were included on other topics relating to Net Zero and climate change. The latest findings relating to these topics can be found as follows:

• Sources of information about actions people can take to tackle climate change, and what further information is wanted, see Winter 2023 report on Net Zero and climate change - section on ‘Information on tackling climate change’

1. Additional examples of social media were included in Summer 2024, compared with in Summer 2022 and 2023, when only Facebook and Twitter were mentioned. For full question wording and examples please refer to the Summer 2024 questionnaire. ↩