Climate change not man-made, say majority of Britons: poll

Yahoo News 14 Nov 09;

LONDON (AFP) – Less than half of Britons believes that human activity is to blame for global warming, according to a poll carried out for The Times newspaper and published on Saturday.

Only 41 percent accept as an established scientific fact that global warming is taking place and is largely man-made.

Almost a third, or 32 percent, believe that the link is not yet proved; eight percent say it is environmentalist propaganda to blame man and 15 percent believe the world is not warming.

Only slightly more than a quarter (28 percent) think climate change is the most serious problem that the world faces.

The findings of the poll threaten to undermine British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's position at next month's UN conference in Copenhagen where world leaders will attempt to craft a new accord to curb greenhouse gases.

The Times said the scepticism illustrated the difficulty the government will have in persuading the public to accept higher green taxes to help meet Britain's legally binding targets to cut carbon emissions by 34 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050.

Some 53 percent of people questioned oppose the idea of increasing the cost of motoring to encourage people to drive less.

The poll was carried out by Populus for The Times by interviewing a random sample of 1,504 adults by telephone on November 6-8.

Only two in five believe climate change caused by human activity
Only two in five British voters believe that climate change is real and is caused by human activity, according to a poll.
The Telegraph 14 Nov 09;

Around a quarter of those questioned (28 per cent) by pollsters Populus for The Times agreed that climate change is "far and away" the most serious problem facing Britain, while a further 51 per cent said it was a serious problem, but not as serious as other issues.

The findings threaten to undermine Gordon Brown's position at next month's UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, when he will push for international agreement to cut carbon emissions.

Mr Brown's hand in negotiations will be weakened if other countries think that he does not enjoy solid public support at home for his stance on global warming.

Some 41 per cent of those taking part in today's poll agreed that it has been established that climate change is largely due to human activity. Around a third (32%) agreed that global warming is happening, but said it had not yet been proven to be man-made.

Climate change denial theories were shown to have very little support among the population, with just eight per cent describing the view that global warming is man-made as environmentalist propaganda and 15 per cent saying that it is not happening at all.

The poll showed an increase in support for new air travel taxes to cut carbon emissions, with 57 per cent in favour and 40 per cent against, compared to a 50 per cent to 46 per cent split in a similar poll in 2006.

There was opposition to increases in the overall cost of motoring on environmental grounds, by a margin of 53 per cent to 44 per cent. But a large majority - 68 per cent against 29 per cent - said that much higher taxes should be imposed on gas-guzzling vehicles.

A very large majority - 87 per cent to 11 per cent - supported new building regulations to require high standards of insulation and use of renewable energy, even if it increases the cost of homes.

Populus interviewed 1,504 adults by telephone between November 6 and 8.