All Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group Is a Cross-Party ...

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The need to convince people of the environmental damage done by the recent growth in UK aviation, fuelled by cheap flights, was a particular concern for some contributors. 52. It is certainly the case that, in the past, members of the general public have been relatively unconcerned about climate change. That may now be changing, to the extent that the public may, in some respects, be ahead of many politicians and policy makers. An Ipsos-MORI survey conducted across Britain in October/November 2005 for the University of East Anglia and the Tyndall Centre 19 , found that 91% of respondents agreed with the statement that the world’s climate was changing. The vast majority, fully 94% of the sample, also perceived the need for at least some action against climate change, while 62% were even more emphatic in agreeing that every possible action should be taken against climate change. However, whilst only 8% of the sample felt that the main responsibility for tackling climate change lay with individuals and their families, more felt that governments should act, with 39% suggesting it was the responsibility of the national government and 32% the international community. 53. What this survey evidence suggests is that ordinary people view governments as largely responsible for taking the first steps on climate change, most probably because they view it as too big a problem for them to personally tackle in their own lives, but are also likely to be open to properly presented arguments about the importance of climate change. It is also likely that many would be receptive to a clear demonstration of leadership on this issue from the Government and parties (see also comments on the issue of leadership below). A crossparty consensus would almost certainly help government to approach these questions in a more consistent and effective manner. However, people may still be unwilling or unable to fully acknowledge their own personal contribution to the problem. As noted by Douglas Parr of Greenpeace in his evidence, a considerable challenge is to ensure that mitigation of climate change becomes a part of the everyday lives of all of us in the UK (as it is in other countries in Europe), by ensuring that people’s actions and the consequences of them have clear and transparent connections. 54. At this point it is worth mentioning the report “I Will if You Will: Towards Sustainable Consumption” published in May 2006 by the Sustainable Consumption Roundtable, jointly hosted by the National Consumer Council (NCC) and the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC). 20 The headline assessment of the Roundtable is “that a critical mass of citizens and businesses is ready and waiting to act on the challenge of sustainable consumption. But to act, they need the confidence that they will not be acting alone, against the grain and to no purpose..…both the business world and citizens are increasingly willing to embrace key aspects of a smarter, more sustainable lifestyle, but on one reassurance: that others, whether your neighbour at home or your competitor in business, act likewise – the simple idea of ‘I will if you will’”. 55. The Roundtable concludes that government, at all levels, is best placed to co-ordinate a collective approach to change, through an enabling policy framework, but that people, business and government “each occupy a corner in a triangle of change…. Different corners lead at different times by doing what they can do best”. Actions for mitigating climate change include sustainable consumption, as well as other actions to which similar arguments can be applied. 19 The full sample for the research was 1,491. See Poortinga W., Pidgeon, N.F. and Lorenzoni, I. (2006) Public Perceptions of Nuclear Power, Climate Change and Energy Options in Britain: Summary Findings of a Survey Conducted during October and November 2005. Technical Report (Understanding Risk Working Paper 06-02). Norwich: Centre for Environmental Risk. http://www.tyndall.ac.uk/publications/EnergyFuturesFullReport.pdf 20 www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications/downloads/I_Will_If_You_Will.pdf 16
56. A few of the submissions to the current inquiry recommended some form of multi-party stakeholder deliberations or dialogue to involve people more directly in the policy processes for climate change. Although there is much enthusiasm for such approaches in the science communication community at present 21 , it was not clear from the evidence presented to us how such a mechanism might form a part of a cross-party consensus. 22 57. The Cross-Party Approach at Annex 1 contains a commitment to work together to develop specific joint policy proposals, but to bear in mind “the right of the devolved administrations to make their own provisions”. Indeed, regional and local government initiatives are likely to be significant in providing leadership and motivation for individual action on climate change, and attention must be paid to the ways in which consensus at a national party level might be used constructively to foster or support such local efforts. 21 For example, both the Royal Society and the British Association have instigated extensive public engagement activities under their various ‘science and society’ initiatives held over the past 5 years. 22 Some government advisory bodies on environmental issues such as the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM), and the Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission (AEBC) have utilised these approaches in the recent past. 17
Page 1 and 2: All Party Parliamentary Climate Cha
Page 3 and 4: Foreword In life generally to be co
Page 5 and 6: cross-party climate policy group, a
Page 7 and 8: Conservatives on the development of
Page 9 and 10: 12.5% cut in the six main greenhous
Page 11 and 12: 31. While a number of contributors
Page 13 and 14: propose or could not carry through
Page 15: 2.3 Whether to Include Adaptation P
Page 19 and 20: come from outside of business itsel
Page 21 and 22: endorsement. As with any strategy,
Page 23 and 24: according to Peter Ainsworth MP “
Page 25 and 26: 85. As assessors we are in full agr
Page 27 and 28: 4. Possible Points of Consensus 96.
Page 29 and 30: 5. Conclusions and Recommendations
Page 31 and 32: Annex 1: Joint Statement on a Cross
Page 33 and 34: drawing upon the existing, and any
Page 35 and 36: consequences of climate change over
Page 37 and 38: DR CLAYTON: Have you any comment on
Page 39 and 40: is somehow addressing climate chang
Page 41 and 42: much the same. I am not sure whethe
Page 43 and 44: MR AINSWORTH: I take this opportuni
Page 45 and 46: cannot carry on not putting environ
Page 47 and 48: initiative by writing to David Came
Page 49 and 50: ange left in some of the numbers it
Page 51 and 52: Annex 4: List of Written Submission

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