Official Statistics

DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker: Headline findings, Winter 2024, UK

Published 13 March 2025

The DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker (PAT) 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 from the Winter 2024 wave of the Tracker, which ran from 7 November to 12 December 2024. 

The Winter 2024 wave is the twelfth wave in a series of surveys which began in Autumn 2021. Between Autumn 2021 and Summer 2023, surveys were conducted every quarter, although there was no wave in Autumn 2023. From Spring 2024, the survey moved to a triannual design with waves conducted every Spring, Summer and Winter. 

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. 

Headline findings for Winter 2024 

Net zero and climate change 

• Overall awareness of the 2050 Net Zero target was 91%, unchanged from Spring 2024, and remaining broadly stable since Winter 2021. Knowledge (knowing a lot or a fair amount) increased slightly from 50% in Summer 2024 to 53% in Winter 2024. 

• 80% of people said they were very or fairly concerned about climate change, with 37% very concerned, unchanged since Winter 2023. However, there has been a decline in levels of concern over time from Autumn 2021 when 85% were concerned. 

• Concern about climate change was higher among older people aged 65 and over (43% compared with between 32% and 35% in age groups from 16 to 44) and people with a degree (48% compared with 30% of those with no qualifications). 

• TV news was the most reported source used to get information on tackling climate change (60%), followed by social media (40%), TV and radio documentaries and podcasts (39%) and newspapers or newspaper websites (39%).  

• When presented with a list of climate change mitigation topics, 69% of people wanted more information on at least one of the topics listed. The most common topics people wanted to know more about were reducing energy consumption at home (48%), choosing environmentally friendly products (43%), and choosing green financial products (27%). 

• Two new questions were introduced to measure perceptions on the role of the UK as a global leader in tackling climate change.  

  • Overall, 38% of people agreed that the UK is a global leader in tackling climate change, while 21% disagreed and 30% did not provide an opinion either way.  
  • When asked how important it is that the UK is a global leader in tackling climate change, 69% said that it was important, while 23% said it was not important.

Renewable energy 

• 82% of people supported using renewable energy like wind, solar, and biomass for electricity, fuel, and heat (down from 84% in Summer 2024). Overall support has declined from 87% at the start of the time series in Autumn 2021, with fluctuations over time.  

• Levels of strong support for renewable energy were most reported in the South West (60%) and Yorkshire and the Humber (58%), and least reported in the North East (40%), East of England (42%), East Midlands and Wales (both 43%). 

• A new question was introduced on Great British Energy (GBE), a government initiative launched in 2024 to set up a publicly owned, clean energy company operating across the UK.  

  • While 60% said they were aware of GBE, only 12% reported knowing a lot or a fair amount about it. 
  • Awareness of GBE was most reported in Scotland (67%) and the East of England (66%); in contrast awareness was lowest in Northern Ireland (46%). 

Energy infrastructure and energy security 

• 75% of people said they were aware of the need to build more electricity network infrastructure in the UK, down from 79% in Summer 2024. Knowledge (knowing a lot or a fair amount) also declined from 26% in Summer 2024 to 21% in Winter 2024. 

• A new question asked respondents what information was most important to them during the planning phase of new electricity network infrastructure (e.g. pylons, overhead power lines, substations) in their local area:  
  • Information rated as most important included: the impact on electricity bills (49%), the impact on local plant and animal life (43%), and the visual impact on the landscape (40%). 
  • Urban residents prioritised information on the impact on the cost of bills (51% vs 41% in rural areas), while rural residents wanted to know about the visual impact on the landscape (52% vs 37% in urban areas). 

• Overall support for using nuclear energy was 44% in Winter 2024, remaining stable compared to Winter 2023. However, support has risen from 37% in Winter 2021.  

• When presented with a list of statements about nuclear energy, a high proportion gave a neutral or don’t know response (between 40% and 51%), however of those that did give an opinion: 
  • 51% agreed that nuclear energy provides a reliable source of UK (9% disagreed). 
  • 47% agreed that it will help combat UK climate change (12% disagreed). 
  • 37% agreed that nuclear energy offers affordable energy (12% disagreed). 
  • 35% agreed that nuclear is a safe source of UK energy (21% disagreed). 

Heat and energy use in the home 

• Gas central heating remained the most common way to heat the home (50%) but this has declined from 58% in Winter 2023 and 78% in Winter 2021. Instead, there has been a reported increase in the use of portable electric heaters (17%, up from 14% in Winter 2023 and 3% in Winter 2021): 
  •  People who were struggling financially were less likely to use gas central heating (44% vs 52% of those managing comfortably) and more likely to rely on portable electric heaters (25% vs 16%). 

• 88% of people said they were aware of the need to change the way homes and buildings are heated to reach the Net Zero target, while 41% said they knew a lot or a fair amount about this. Both measures have remained broadly stable since Spring 2022. 

• When asked about specific low carbon heating systems, people were most aware of air source heat pumps (77%) and ground source heat pumps (74%, up from 71% in Winter 2023). Lower awareness was reported for biomass boilers (63%), hybrid heat pumps (52%), heat networks (53%), hydrogen boilers (46%, down from 51%), and hydrogen-ready boilers (35%, down from 40%).  

• Among owner-occupiers, 25% said they were likely to install an air source heat pump in the future (23%) or owned one already (2%); this combined proportion has increased over time from 19% in Winter 2021: 
  • People in higher income bands (£50,000+) were more likely than those in lower income bands to consider installing an air source heat pump (37% vs between 5% to 28% of those in income bands between £0–£49,999). 
  • Likelihood of installing or owning a ground source and hybrid heat pump was lower (both 17%), while 11% said they were likely to install a biomass boiler. 
  • A substantial minority felt they lacked enough information to decide if they would install a low carbon heating system (between 29% and 38% for each system). 

• Among owner-occupiers who said they were unlikely to install a low carbon heating system, the main barriers were concern about the cost of installation (50%), a perception that this wouldn’t be viable in their home (41%) and a preference to wait to see how the technology develops (36%).  

• 80% of people had heard of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), although only 16% knew their home’s exact rating. Overall, 25% were aware of the energy efficiency recommendations on their EPC.

Energy bills and tariffs 

• 83% of people said they monitored their energy use, most commonly through a smart meter in-home display (42%), followed by energy bills (33%), their energy supplier app (21%) and their supplier’s online portal or website (16%). 

• Most people (90%) said they had heard of ‘time of use’ electricity tariffs, up slightly from 88% in Winter 2023. Knowledge levels also increased over this period, with 34% saying they knew a lot or a fair amount compared to 39% in Winter 2023. 

• Around half (49%) said they were very or fairly likely to switch to a ‘time of use’ electricity tariff (down slightly from 51% in Winter 2023). The proportion not likely to switch increased from 23% in Winter 2023 to 28% in Winter 2024. 

• The main barriers to switching to a ‘time of use’ electricity tariff included not wanting to think about when to use electricity (41%, up from 34% in Winter 2023), insufficient cost savings (35%) and contentment with their current tariff or provider (35%). 

Notes 

The survey is run by Verian on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. 

The PAT is a household self-completion survey that uses a ‘push to web’ methodology. Respondents can choose to complete the survey online or use a paper questionnaire.  

In this publication, differences between groups are only reported where they are statistically significant at the 95% confidence interval level.  

For further information about the technical details of the survey please refer to the Technical overview.