New DfT report finds most people think individuals should try to limit car use to benefit environment

Thu 28 January 2010 View all news

A new DfT report on public attitudes to climate change in the context of transport finds that a majority of respondents from amongst the general public understand that transport emissions contribute to climate change and that a majority believe that individuals should try to limit their car use to benefit the environment.

The report for the Department for Transport is based on a survey module included in the Office for National Statistics' Opinions (Omnibus) survey which has been carried out each August since 2006. It found that 65% of respondents spontaneously selected emissions from road transport as a cause of climate change. Most respondents said they think cars or aeroplanes are the transport modes mainly responsible for climate changing emissions.

Overall, though, the findings from the 2009 Opinions climate change survey suggest little change from last year, indicating that people's attitudes towards climate change in relation to transport have essentially remained unchanged.

The report found that just under 60% of adults believe that 'Individuals should try to limit their car use for the sake of the environment'.

Support for policies on 'soft' measures to encourage alternative modes, such as improved public transport, was, however, far higher than measures that would increase the cost of car travel. Also, support for both increasing tax on petrol and higher taxes on less environmentally friendly cars (the most popular pricing measure chosen by 37% of adults) decreased between 2006 and 2009.

The vast majority of adults support the Government in persuading people to purchase less environmentally damaging vehicles, although the proportion supporting has reduced over time from 87% in 2006 to 81% in 2009.

In 2009, 45% of adults believed 'Air travel should be limited for the sake of the environment' while around a fifth (21%) supported increasing the cost of air travel to help reduce transport emissions.

The other key findings were:

  • In 2009, 76% of adults said that they were very or fairly concerned about climate change, with about a quarter being very concerned.
  • The proportion of adults considering climate change one of the top three most important issues facing Britain was about a quarter (24%) in 2009.
  • In each year about 10% of adults said that they knew a lot about climate change; in 2009 a further 43% said they knew a fair amount. Just over one in ten said that they knew hardly anything or nothing.
  • The vast majority of adults believed that the world and UK climate was being affected. Just over one in ten adults indicated that they were not convinced or were unsure whether the UK climate was being affected.
  • Although the majority (about 60%) of adults felt that climate change would have little or no effect on them personally, in 2009 85% thought the affect on future generations would be a great deal or quite a lot.
  • The majority of respondents believed that transport emissions contribute to climate change, with 65% spontaneously selecting emissions from road transport as a cause of climate change, although this proportion has fallen significantly since 2006.
  • When asked which modes of transport contribute most the public were most likely to choose cars or aeroplanes.
  • The public were most likely to trust independent scientists to provide correct information about climate change, although this has fallen significantly since 2006. Correspondingly, the proportion not trusting any source has increased significantly over time, from 6% in 2006 to 12% in 2009.

To download the report, please follow the associated links.

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