Climate change achieves highest-ever score as area of concern for British public – Index

Despite world leaders recently coming together to broker a series of international agreements on climate change and adaptation at COP26, it seems that concern about climate change in the UK have yet to be abated.

This is according to the results of the November 2021 Ipsos MORI Issues Index which revealed that pollution, environment and climate change topped the list of the most important issues facing Britain today.

Climate change pushed past other key areas including the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit, with four in ten of the public mentioning it in this month's Index. This figure is up 16 per cent on October, and the highest recorded score for this issue since it was first included in the Index in October 1988.

When the above figure was broken down, it emerged that those over 55 (47 per cent) were most likely to cite the environment as the biggest issue, followed by those aged 35-54 (43 per cent) and those aged 18-34 (27 per cent).

Figures from the Index also showed that this figure was slightly higher for women (41 per cent) than men (40 per cent).

Mike Clemence, a researcher at Ipsos MORI, also noted that “there is also widespread agreement on this priority across different groups including across supporters of both the Labour and Conservative parties”.

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