According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, May 2024 marked 12 consecutive months of record-breaking global temperatures, with the Earth warming by 1.64°C above preindustrial levels. Tackling the environmental impacts of the climate crisis demands ambitious policies and increased public engagement. Indeed, our research reveals a strong appetite among the British public for political leaders to act on this critical issue.
We welcome the government’s mandate on environmental stewardship and look forward to a constructive relationship between the government and universities. If given the opportunity to shape environmental policies, we would advocate for the following measures.
Professor Matthew Davidson, Executive Director of ISCC and of the Innovation Centre for Applied Sustainable Technologies (iCAST):
Funded by Research England, iCAST is an example of a unique and highly successful innovation hub dedicated to advancing clean growth technologies. Our experience is that three- to five-year projects are not long enough to establish new cross-disciplinary, multi-sector initiatives that can make a difference. There needs to be a greater appetite for longer-term investments to help tackle major global sustainability challenges while also enhancing regional and national skills, innovation and growth. I would therefore like to see more continuity and security of research funding for critical mass research, training and innovation projects.
Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh MBE, Co-Director of the Bath Institute of Sustainability and Climate Change (ISCC) and Director of the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformation (CAST):
I would like to see a nation-wide programme of retrofit – to both cut emissions from energy use and energy bills, since we are in a cost-of-living crisis. We have evidence that there is strong public support: our latest polling with Ipsos shows over three-quarters of the UK public support government measures to improve home energy efficiency. Moreover, subsidies for home insulation is the higher supported policy four years in a row in our CAST public perception survey.” The policy is fair and achieves co-benefits – cutting fuel poverty as well as tackling climate change. It’s a win-win!
Dr Christina Demski, Associate Director of ISCC and Deputy Director of CAST:
I would like to see a UK-wide public engagement strategy that lays out how the government will support the public in decision making about climate change, and how it will use social science evidence on behaviour change to remove the barriers to climate action that people currently face. This is because our research has shown that participatory decision-making is better – it improves decision quality and leads to more policies that are accepted by the public.
Dr Stephen Allen, Associate Director of ISCC and Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering:
It is critical that our actions to reduce carbon emissions really do lead to overall reductions in our carbon footprint, and not just ‘carbon leakage’, which is the movement of production and associated emissions from one country to another. In addition, it is essential that our efforts to reduce carbon emissions will also benefit the economy and address the needs of our communities. I would like to see a continuation of our government being open and transparent about our full UK carbon footprint, and implementing policies to tackle carbon leakage.
The Bath Institute of Sustainability and Climate Change brings together research themes in sustainable chemical technologies, sustainable systems and societal transformation. It aims to deliver novel sustainable chemical technologies and whole system evaluation to reframe problems and create transformative innovation in sustainability and climate change. Leveraging our expertise in advancing sustainable technologies and fostering societal resilience, we look forward to new opportunities to play our part in delivering on decisive and ambitious environmental policies.