Richer countries should pay more to tackle climate change, say most Scots

New analysis from two surveys by Ipsos and the Climate Engagement Partnership, a collaboration between Ipsos and the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST), shows that Scots are even more supportive of climate justice than our neighbours south of the border are. 

An Ipsos KnowledgePanel survey of 9,999 UK adults, including 1,911 in Scotland, conducted in late September and early October shows that:

• Seven in 10 Scots (70%) say it is right that developed countries who have contributed most to the climate emergency by producing the most carbon emissions should pay more to solve the problem, and only 13% disagree. Support for this is even higher in Scotland than it is in the UK overall, where 63% agree. 
• The UK Government recently announced it would double climate finance aid over the next 5 years to £11.6 billion, and there is broad support both in Scotland and in the UK overall for this policy. 
• Scots are slightly more likely to feel that the amount of climate finance aid is not enough and should be increased than the UK public overall are: 27% in Scotland say this, compared with 21% in the UK overall.  

Belief that the UK is already feeling the effects of climate change and the desire for the UK to reach net zero sooner than 2050 are both higher in Scotland than in the UK overall. A second Ipsos KnowledgePanel survey of over 5,600 UK adults, including 1,051 in Scotland, conducted in late August shows that:

• Nearly three quarters (72%) of the Scottish public believe that the UK is already feeling the effects of climate change, compared with 67% of the UK public overall. 
• Three in five in Scotland believe that the UK needs to achieve net zero ahead of its 2050 target (59% in Scotland, compared with 54% of the UK public overall).

Public awareness of government net zero emissions targets in both Scotland and the UK is relatively high. Three in five (60%) of Scots say they have heard of the Scottish Government’s target of achieving net zero in Scotland by 2045, while two in five (39%) say they have not heard of it. Awareness of the UK Government target of net zero by 2050 is even higher: 79% of both the Scottish public and the UK public say they have heard of this target. 

Yet public understanding of what both they and the UK Government will need to do to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions is low:

• Just 10% in Scotland feel they know a lot about what the UK Government will need to do to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions, while half (48%) only know a little and a third (32%) realise something needs to be done but don’t know what. 
• There is also a knowledge gap when it comes to what people themselves will need to do to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions. 13% in Scotland feel they know a lot about what they personally would need to do, while half (52%) only know a little and a quarter (26%) know actions is needed but don’t know what. 

Emily Gray, Managing Director of Ipsos Scotland, commented:

With the eyes of the world on Glasgow ahead of the COP26 summit, these findings show strong support among Scots for policies supporting developing countries in the fight against climate change. While most of us are worried about climate change, we don’t feel we know much about what action is needed to reduce our carbon emissions. Public engagement will be critical in addressing that gap and supporting people through the transition to net zero.

Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh, Professor of Environmental Psychology and Director of CAST, said:

These findings show the Scottish public has a strong sense of climate justice, recognising that richer countries are more responsible for climate change and should do more to tackle it. At the same time, Scots see climate change as a risk for their own country right now – and many want governments to speed up the timeframe for acting. This strong public mandate for rapid and fair climate action should spur UK leaders at COP26 to show leadership in the global fight against climate change.

Technical note:

• This data has been collected by Ipsos’s UK KnowledgePanel, a random probability panel which provides gold standard insights into the UK population, by providing bigger sample sizes via the most rigorous research methods.
• Ipsos conducted 2 studies:
  • The first interviewed a representative sample of 5,665 people over 16 in the UK, including 1,051 in Scotland. Interviews were conducted online between 19th and 25th August 2021. 
  • The second interviewed a representative sample of 9,999 people over 16 in the UK, including 1,911 in Scotland. Interviews were conducted online between 30th September and 6th October 2021.
• Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.