New study finds public highly concerned about climate change; want Government to take lead
Tue 01 July 2008
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The Department for Transport has published new research by the University of the West of England (UWE) on public attitudes to transport. The study finds that a large majority of the population is aware of and concerned about climate change and judges this to be an important area for Government action in the context of transport.
Most people believe that climate change is human-induced and consider that transport is an important cause, especially car and air travel.
Research on barriers to change reported in the study, indicates that there is a conflict for some between concern for the environment and concern about upsetting current lifestyles.
Generally the study finds that the notion of ‘the public attitude’ is oversimplified. Rather, there is a range of resistance to changing behaviour, for example in terms of cutting car use.
The study reports that the finding that there is a substantial willingness of people to change seems very robust. It says that surveys have found evidence of a desire among some sections of the public that Government should be taking the lead on these questions, for example in creating conditions that make environmentally helpful choices more practical and attractive, rather than seeing it as a matter for individual initiative only.
A presentation at the recent LowCVP conference by Graham Pendlebury, a senior civil servant in the Department for Transport, suggested that there is significant public resistance to Government attempts to lead in some areas on this agenda. "It is easy to propose impossible remedies," he said, "but the voters won't neccessarily stand for it."
To view the full study, follow the associated link.
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