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Climate change attitudes

Data from the DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker about awareness of Net Zero and concern about climate change

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Attitudes to climate change and net zero

The DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker (PAT) regularly asks people questions about their concern and response to climate change and their attitudes to the UK's proposed transition to Net Zero.  The output from these questions are summarised for each of the nine English statistical regions. Statistics are released three times a year but many questions are only asked annually.

In the broad North East region, in 2023:

  • About three quarters of respondents in the region were very or fairly concerned about climate change
  • most North East region residents had some awareness of the concept of "net zero"
  • however, only about 40% had a lot or a fair amount of knowledge of the concept
  • comparisons with the survey results from six and 12 months earlier gives no evidence of recent increases in concern or awareness in the region
  • when presented with statements about climate change, among North East region respondents:
    • four fifths agreed that the effects of climate change could be reduced if everybody "did their bit"
    • three quarters agreed that they could personally make changes that could help reduce climate change
    • more than half agreed that conflicting.information made it difficult to know who to believe
    • over two fifths agreed that it isn't worth doing things to address climate change if others don't do likewise
    • a similar proportion agreed that the media exaggerates the impacts of climate change
  • almost 90% of respondents in the North East region had trust in scientists and scientific organisations to provide accurate information about climate change
  • in contrast, the equivalent percentages for social media, newspapers and the Government were just over 20%, 40% and 50%, respectively. 

Actions, confidence and expected impact

As well as publishing responses to questions about attitudes and awareness, the tracker also includes information about climate friendly actions and the expected likelihood and impact of the UK meeting Net Zero targets. In the North East region in 2023:

  • Almost all respondents were undertaking at least one key behaviour to reduce climate change
  • respondents could each select more than one action and according to these responses:
    • more than three quarters recycled household waste
    • almost as many avoided or minimised the throwing away of food
    • a similar percentage minimised the amount of energy used at home
    • almost a half sometimes chose to cycle or walk instead of using a car
    • just over two fifths sometimes used public transport instead of a car 
  • only a fifth of respondents were fairly or very confident that the UK is on track to meet the Net Zero target by 2050
  • just over a third thought that the short term impact on the UK economy from transition to Net Zero would be negative, with about a quarter thinking that it would be positive
  • in contrast, more than half thought that the long term impact would be positive
  • about three fifths of respondents thought that, in the short term, the transition to Net Zero would increase their regular living expenses
  • slightly fewer, but still more than half, thought that the transition would increase their regular living expenses in the long term
  • in this dataset, short term refers to 1 to 2 years while long term refers to 10 or more years.