Poll: We want to be green – just not for more than a fiver a week

...but we think Cop26 will be a flop – and fear lights going out

THE public strongly supports the UK’s bid to curb climate change – but they are not prepared to pay more than £5 extra a week in tax to fund a £1trillion green energy plan.

They fear the proposals are not well thought out and may lead to power cuts.

These are among the key findings of a Daily Mail poll by JL Partners on the eve of the Cop26 summit in Glasgow aimed at reversing global warming.

The survey illustrates the scale of the Government’s task as the UK hosts the conference with the aim of winning international support for tough action to make the world carbon neutral.

The good news for ministers is that voters back the 2050 zero carbon emissions target for Britain, including banning gas boilers and new petrol and diesel cars in coming years.

And they urge them to press ahead even if ‘big polluters’ such as China, whose President Xi is boycotting Cop26, refuse to act.

The bad news for Prime Minister Boris Johnson is that the poll highlights the enormous political gamble he is taking.

It reveals deep public scepticism over whether the measures will work – and Tory supporters

‘They are not willing to part with their cash’

are the biggest doubters. A total of 36 per cent of all voters worry that ‘green energy’ policies will lead to ‘the lights going out’, but 31 per cent are not worried about this.

People are not prepared to see living standards plummet to meet the eye-watering cost of the plans, estimated by some at £1trillion.

Six out of ten (62 per cent) are unwilling to pay an extra penny for domestic fuel to pay for ‘green energy’.

Two out of three (66 per cent) say they are ready to pay a maximum £5 rise in their weekly tax bill (£250 a year) to reach Mr Johnson’s 2050 zero carbon target.

But only one in 25 (4 per cent) are prepared to pay £25 more per week in tax (£1,250 per year) for this purpose.

An extra £250 a year represents one tenth of the estimated annual £2,500 cost per voter for reaching the Government’s 2050 zero carbon target.

Mr Johnson’s wife, environment campaigner Carrie, is credited by voters for changing his views on climate change. Moreover, 43 per cent say she has been a good influence; 33 per cent disagree.

The conflict between the desire to curb climate change and alarm about the cost and effectiveness of doing so is reflected in the response to the Government’s plan to ban gas boilers by 2035 and replace them with heat pumps. Nearly half (48 per cent) back the proposal, while 25 per cent do not support it. But reports that heat pumps can cost up to £20,000 and do not work have clearly had an impact.

Only one in 20 (5 per cent) say they will definitely take up the Government’s offer of a £5,000 grant towards a heat pump; a further 14 per cent say they will probably do so. But two in three (67 per cent) say they definitely or probably will not take up the offer.

A majority (51 per cent) support plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, although Conservative voters are less keen (44 per cent in favour, with 37 per cent against).

Only 3 per cent of all voters already own an electric car, while 39 per cent say that they will probably buy one.

An overwhelming 53 per cent blame China for the climate change crisis; America is second on 14 per cent with the UK and India on 4 per cent. But 68 per cent say that

Mr Johnson should press ahead with radical action to tackle the problem even if nations such as China do nothing.

Barely one in four (26 per cent) thinks that the Cop26 summit will be a success; four in ten (40 per cent) say it will fail.

Asked what they will do personally to tackle climate change, the most popular response is ‘put on an extra jumper’ to keep warm in winter; ‘fewer foreign holidays’ is well down the list and ‘buy a heat pump’ is bottom. James Johnson of JL Partners said: ‘On the one hand, Boris Johnson has an easier task ahead of him than countries that are more polarised on the environment – like the US, Canada and Australia.

‘An overwhelming number of Britons, nearly 90 per cent, say that they believe climate change is happening, and want to see action to address it.

‘But there is a gap between the idea of tackling climate change

and the reality of the costs of it. Though there is enthusiasm for climate change action in principle, and people feel that it will help the economy in the long-run, they are not willing to part with their cash.

‘The public is not confident that Cop26 will change their minds and the failure of attendance by President Xi and [Russian President] Vladimir Putin has clearly harmed the summit in its eyes.

‘But there is a glimmer of hope for the Government. Voters think that we should still lead the world by example and they back a binding climate agreement even without China and the other big polluters.’

‘Mr Johnson added: ‘It is that patriotic case for net zero – the “show the rest of the world how it is done” spirit – that may yet make the summit a success in the public’s eyes.’

JL Partners interviewed 1,043 adults online on Tuesday.