Austerity hasn’t made people care less about the environment

Posted on April 16, 2012 by

This article, by Green Alliance’s Alastair Harper,  about our new report What do people really think about the environment? first appeared on  guardian.co.uk on 10 April.

A few days ago, in a stuffy, closed-windowed meeting, I stared at a projection of Powerpoint slides, featuring graphs, rhetorical questions and stock photos. All these slides dealt with public perception of the environment. Things didn’t start well. In answer to a slide asking “What is the most important issue facing Britain today?”, top of the pile was our old friend the economy. Followed by jobs. Down the list we went. Immigration, crime, inflation, petrol prices, equality. Spluttering in at the bottom with three per cent of the vote was pollution/environment. If it had been an election, the environment would be lucky to get its deposit back. Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour change, Politics, Public debate, The economic crisis | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Why climate scepticism at a local level needn’t be a barrier to action

Posted on April 11, 2012 by

This is a guest post by Peter Lefort, Project Officer for the Community Action Group network, an organisation that supports 40 sustainability groups across Oxfordshire. 

Climate scepticism is now a term as pervasive as climate change itself. It is tempting to view the battle as one fought between two sides, but in reality climate scepticism is so broad an idea, covering everything from corporate-funded think tanks to disillusioned individuals, that it is misleading to view it as a single argument, and especially as one that can be defeated by knowledge.

A recent study conducted at Yale Law School concluded that when people increase their scientific and reasoning skills, their previous views on climate change are strengthened; sceptics become more sceptical while those who are concerned become more worried. Knowledge is rationalised into an existing worldview, and so the battle remains a stalemate. Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour change, Communications, Policy, Public debate | Leave a comment

The British public still cares about the environment – and government has a mandate for action

Posted on April 4, 2012 by

This blog post is based on a paper What people really think about the environment: an analysis of public opinion, published today by Green Alliance.

We’re living with the effects of what’s been called the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Unemployment is rising, and so are the costs of basic necessities such as food and energy. In the face of these economic challenges, there’s a perception that the public no longer cares about climate change, or living more sustainably.

But is this really the case? Has Britain become a “nation of climate change sceptics”?

In short, the answer is no. Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour change, Public debate, Research | 4 Comments

Tales of rising climate scepticism are overstated and misleading

Posted on April 4, 2012 by

This is a guest post by Leo Barasi who writes about public opinion on the website Noise of the Crowd. It is in response to Green Alliance’s new paper on public opinion and the environment.

Coverage of public opinion on climate change is never just about reporting numbers. Without appreciating the need for journalists to tell a story, we can never really understand why climate change polls are reported as they are.

Over the last decade, two distinct narratives have been told about what the public think of climate change. Each of these narratives has been so dominant for a time that it has been difficult for alternative views of public opinion to get much attention.  Continue reading →

Posted in Communications, Public debate, Research, The economic crisis | 4 Comments

A second chance for CCS?

Posted on April 2, 2012 by

This post is by Dustin Benton, senior policy adviser at Green Alliance. A version of this article originally appeared on the Guardian website.

Carbon capture and storage promises all the ease of continued use of fossil fuels without the carbon emissions. The UK should be a leader in its development. It has all the advantages of good geology, industry expertise, and public support, but as the National Audit Office reported two weeks ago, our demonstration programme has been plagued by delays, putting the whole programme back by half a decade. This has happened because the policy supporting CCS is based on outdated assumptions. Continue reading →

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Planning policy verdict: government listened

Posted on March 27, 2012 by

This is a guest post by Dame Fiona Reynolds, director-general of the National Trust and Green Alliance trustee. She gives her reaction as the final National Planning Policy Framework document is published by the government, following the influential campaign by the National Trust and others.

We’re all poring over the new, and final, National Planning Policy Framework.  There are many nuances to be teased out and, in the end, only time will tell whether this is a document fit to shape England for the next 50 years. Continue reading →

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Why IT and the green economy are the real answer to the financial crisis

Posted on March 19, 2012 by

This is a guest post by Carlota Perez, an academic and  author of Technological revolutions and financial capital: the dynamics of bubbles and golden ages. This article first appeared in Green Alliance’s magazine Inside Track.

The whole discussion about how to overcome the financial crisis and its consequences on the economy is wrongly focused. Getting public finances in order and the financial world back on its feet will not bring the world economy back to business as usual.  Healthy finance with a languid real economy will naturally find new ways of casino behaviour.

What is needed is a set of policies that will decidedly tilt the playing field in such a way that finance would find it more profitable to fund production than to gamble in derivatives or futures, while production, in turn, would find clear pathways to profitable innovation and expansion. We are facing a recurring twice-in-a-century event, equivalent to the 1930s after the crash of 1929, which needs to be understood to find effective solutions. Continue reading →

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What does it take to get green policies implemented in government?

Posted on March 14, 2012 by

Duncan Brack, Chris Huhne’s former special adviser and now a Green Alliance associate, gives his view from the inside.

What does it take to get green policies implemented in government?

I’ve had time to think about this question in recent weeks after my rather abrupt departure as Chris Huhne’s special adviser, upon his resignation as secretary of state for energy and climate change last month. Continue reading →

Posted in Policy, Politics | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

How selling comfort and warmth can encourage more homeowners to insulate

Posted on March 12, 2012 by

This is a guest post by Toby Hopwood, communications specialist at the National Social Marketing Centre (NSMC).

How can you encourage households to insulate their lofts when the financial case alone leaves them cold?

We often assume that lower utility bills are what will motivate the less environmentally-concerned to save energy. But work carried out by The NSMC and Newcastle City Council shows that when time is taken to explore the attitudes and beliefs of specific household groups, other benefits can be revealed that are powerful motivators to action. By taking this approach, councils can find low-cost ways to reposition existing services, overcoming the main barriers to installing important measures such as loft insulation.

Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour change, Communications, Energy demand, Psychology | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Passivhaus buildings could transform UK energy demand

Posted on March 8, 2012 by

This is a guest post by Green Alliance member Dr Bruce Tofield of the Build with Care Project based at UEA. He gives his perspective on the green economy discussion at Green Alliance’s annual debate, which took place last week at the German Embassy.

 

“Make a bottleneck and, guided by regulation, the market economy will find a solution”

This was the stimulating advice by Professor Dr Klaus Töpfer, former German environment minister in his introductory comments at Green Alliance’s annual debate on 1 March, at which Edward Davey MP, UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, also spoke.

In just a few minutes Professor Töpfer outlined how long term thinking has enabled Germany to become Europe’s leader in waste management and in renewable energy infrastructure.  He then mentioned how another bottleneck – the need for energy storage capacity to complement renewable electricity – can be being tackled via renewable methane. Continue reading →

Posted in Energy demand, Green economy, Public debate | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments