Over half of Scots (51%) think that energy policy should be devolved to the Scottish Government, while a quarter (25%) feel responsibility should be shared equally with the UK Government and 14% that it should be reserved to Westminster.
To feed into our report "Tipping Point or Turning Point?" we commissioned new research on public attitudes to climate change to see how convinced the public are about the issue, its causes and its possible solutions.
A qualitative and quantitative study Ipsos conducted on behalf of Natural England (formerly the Countryside Agency) shows that the coast plays a fundamental role in the English sense of identity. Indeed, around seven in ten English residents (72%) have visited England's coast in the past year.
Findings from an Ipsos survey commissioned by the National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection (NSCA) show that noise is an issue for a substantial number of people in Britain, and a serious one for some. In all, 7 in 10 people report to be bothered by one or more sources of noise in their neighbourhood, and 12 per cent say their quality of life at home suffers a great deal or a fair amount from noise when they are at home. The most common source of annoyance is noise from cars / motorbikes, with one in five (21 per cent) reporting that they are bothered by this kind of noise in their neighbourhood.
Two out of five people in Great Britain say they are doing something to tackle climate change, according to a recent poll Ipsos for the Environment Agency.
Ipsos was commissioned by Viking Energy Ltd to conduct a survey among Shetland residents, exploring attitudes towards the proposed construction of a windfarm in the central mainland of the island.
New research for the Nuclear Industry Association shows that 72% of the British public agree that the UK needs a mix of energy sources to ensure a reliable supply of electricity, including nuclear power and renewable energy sources. When asked specifically about nuclear newbuild, to ensure the same proportion of nuclear energy is retained, 39% would support it while 29% would oppose it. The remainder are undecided.
A new Ipsos survey for the Evening Standard reveals that over half of Londoners (57%) think the media has helped encourage people to behave more environmentally friendly. However, Londoners are unsure which political party would do most to help protect the environment — over a third (36%) say they don't know which political party has the best policies on climate change and 12% do not rate any party's environmental policies. Among the parties, the Greens are most often mentioned (25%) as having the best policies on climate change; the three major parties are equally unlikely to be perceived as having the best climate change agenda (9% Conservative, 8% Labour, 8% Liberal Democrat).
Research by Ipsos among British MPs this Summer has shown a major boost to the acceptability of building replacement nuclear power stations. Sixty-one percent of MPs now support this; up 16 points since Summer 2005. Within this, the most notable change is the growth in support among Labour MPs: up 22 points to 60%. There is a sense this support is a little reluctant — just 44% are actually favourable towards nuclear energy — but it is sustained by a feeling there is no real alternative, given the need for limiting carbon emissions.
