Voters eager to save planet – but baulk at the cost

PEOPLE in the West Midlands think it is essential to fight climate change – but they are reluctant to pay a personal price.

Representatives from across the world have been meeting at the United Nations COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow, where they discussed proposals to limit carbon emissions and control climate change. West Midlands Mayor Andy Street was due to speak at the summit this week.

A survey by think tank Onward found that the overwhelming majority of people in the West Midlands agreed with the statement “tackling climate change is one of the most important issues we face today”.

And a clear majority also agreed that “if we put off action on climate change now, it will be more costly in the future”.

But when asked if they would be “happy to pay higher prices for fuel and household items if it leads to less carbon being emitted into the atmosphere”, a small majority in the West Midlands said they would not be happy.

Onward said in a report that people in London were most willing to make sacrifices if it would help the planet, while those in the Black Country were sceptical.

It said: “Relative scepticism appears to be concentrated in the North East, as well as East Anglia, the Black Country and some rural parts of the South West.”

It comes as a separate study warned that millions of people could suffer financially if the switch to green tech is handled badly.

The Government wants the UK to become a “net zero” country, which involves significantly cutting emissions of carbon dioxide, which contribute to global warming.

However, measures such as high taxes on fuel, designed to cut energy use, could potentially lead to firms going out of business.

Economics think tank the Centre for Progressive Policy said in a report that communities face huge changes to their local economies, with the worst case scenario being huge job losses and redundancies as high emission jobs are phased out.

Zoe Billingham, co-director of Centre for Progressive Policy, said: “Getting to net zero fairly is essential.

“Our research has revealed the variation in economic risk between communities which must be dealt with head on as we move towards net zero.

“A truly just transition will consider the lived realities and unique needs of each community.

“We hope that our work, will help the central government in pinpointing where to best support citizens in retraining for new, green jobs, where to incentivise new green jobs and the importance of addressing the broader economic resilience of local areas.”

The think tank is working with a body called the Inclusive Growth Network, which includes regional mayors such as West Midlands mayor Andy Street.