Copenhagen deal vital to domestic support on climate change

An exclusive YouGov poll for Left Foot Forward outlines that a global deal at Copenhagen is critical to winning over public support for key domestic measures. Support for interventions that would increase motoring and flying costs increases dramatically in circumstances where a deal is reached.

YouGov interviewed 2095 adults on December 3rd and 4th. The results show that climate change remains a low priority – and has not increased in salience despite the wide media coverage of the issue in the past few weeks.

Even among the 24 per cent who say it’s a “big and urgent issue: radical steps need to be taken”, only 45 per cent say it is among the top issues facing the country, and only 36 per cent say is among the top issues facing them personally. But 46 per cent of people accept that “standards of living will have to rise more slowly.”

The public’s willingness to act has also fallen despite its higher profile in recent years but a strong deal could make a difference. Scepticism about the willingness of Russia, China and India to implement any deal, already high three years ago, is even higher now: only 13 per cent (down from 17 per cent) think they would implement any agreed measures. By contrast, faith in the US is up, though still not high. Four years ago 24 per cent thought they would implement agreed measures. Now, in the Obama era, the figure is up, but only to 34 per cent. There has been a sharp drop in the number thinking Britain should take a lead in fighting global warming, from 49 per cent to 36 per cent.

However, if there is a deal at Copenhagen, the willingness of people to accept higher motoring and flying costs goes up, from 26 per cent (when the same question is asked with no reference to Copenhagen) to 39 per cent, while the number opposed to higher costs falls from 64 per cent to 46 per cent. There is majority support for greater investment in renewable energy regardless of the outcome at Copenhagen.

Conservative voters are far less willing to pay more than Labour or Liberal Democrat voters who have net support of 11 and 17 per cent respectively for higher green taxes.

Anon E Mouse

Will – The fact is that the majority of people in this country are struggling to survive let alone feel they should support luxuries such as taxes on this type of nonsense.

Couple that with the methods by which the Climate Change Nazi’s attempt to force their agenda and stifle any debate on the matter you can understand why.

Even on this blog one only has to read some of the control freakish attitudes adopted by the Climate Change Masters of the Universe to realise it is no surprise their views are in the minority in Britain.

The sooner certain people in this country realise you can’t fool all the people all the time with this rubbish and you shouldn’t tax people on it any of the time the better.

Why can’t politicians actually start to represent the views of the people they seek to govern instead of furthering their own agendas?
Anne O’Nimmus

Whether it’s some as yet undetected natural cycle or anthropogenic, or a mixture of the two, something’s jiggering up the world’s weather. We need the world’s leaders to at least try to act to mitigate it.

Then there’s also Peak Oil, which is likely to come within the same timespan, increasing our dependence on various sheikhs & (ras)Putin & his heirs. So I contend we still need to act to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, to improve renewables and transfer at least a fair percentage of power generation to something that doesn’t leave us beholden to fickle foreign suppliers.
george

“Something’s jiggering up the world’s weather”?

really? all seems pretty normal to me.
Anon E Mouse

Anne – I agree on collective measures but they won’t happen here any more than any other of their overseas jollys.

I hate the rain forests being chopped down (with it’s affects on the wildlife) and because it takes CO2 from the air and to do it so the Champagne Socialists can have bio fuels and continue their lavish, wasteful lifestyles is a disgrace.

I hate the hypocrisy these Stalinists display and the way they seem to take a perverse pleasure in punishing the poor of the world with this drivel.

What happened to Labour being the Champions of the Poor?
Anne O’Nimmus

Anon:
You ask a question I can’t answer. Perhaps you should ask Will to ask Pops to do a piece on that.
hono

when were Labour ever Champions of the poor? Who gets hurt when the country is bankrupted? who ends up on benefits their whole lives? when has Labour ever done anything for the poor except make sure there’s a lot of them?
Anon E Mouse

Anne – That name’s better than mine woman(?)!

In fairness to Will’s dad I know people in his constituency and not only did he sort out their (piddling as I remember) problem he even invited them down to the commons and did the whole bit. He goes on a bit but seems ok. Mind you my old man goes on a bit as well and he’s ok!

hono – Agreed dude – this is not the Labour Party my family normally vote for.
Anne O’Nimmus

Anon

I thought I’d play too. You know the old song “Anything you can do, I can do better!”
That’s if you haven’t got Boney M’s “ra ra Rasputin” still rattling round your head…
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Liz McShane

I can’t believe people don’t think that Labour has done anything for the poor… of course there’s always more to do…… But please remind me who introduced the minimum wage against major Tory & big business oppostion? I suggest you talk to people who benefited from its introduction.
Anon E Mouse

Liz McShane – Because the minimum wage isn’t enough to live on two things happened – it may be the law of unintended consequences, but it’s true in any case.

1.Skilled workers, plumbers, chippys and the like had to compete with Poles who would do the skilled jobs for minimum wage rather than £30 / hour.

2.Semi-skilled workers had to go cap in hand to the government for Working Families Tax Credits creating a client state.

We should have eased in the new EU countries like France and Germany and I think had two levels of minimum wage for skilled/semi skilled workers…

With the majority Blair had though it’s not exactly a lot to achieve – what happened to Lord reform?
Liz McShane

Anon – with the Labour Government we would not have had it at all – and I think it’s important to remember that. Anyway we are rather digressing here as the thread is about Copenhagen & Climate change…….
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