Bright Blue, the independent think tank for liberal conservatism, has today published a unique and comprehensive analysis, entitled Nature positive?, of UK public attitudes towards the value of the natural environment, accessing and engaging with it, and the responsibility and actions of different actors for its protection and enhancement.
The report was supported by WSP, one of the UK’s largest environmental consultancies.
The decline of the natural environment both in this country and overseas is a critical crisis, similar and interlinked to climate change, requiring urgent action.
The report finds that, while support is high for current leading UK Government policies to protect the natural environment both domestically and overseas, the UK public believes Government and government agencies are currently not doing enough. The public marginally prefers the use of ‘sticks’ over ‘carrots’ in terms of government policies to protect nature and there is widespread support for new housing and infrastructure developments, even on the Green Belt, under the ‘biodiversity net gain principle’, which requires developers to ensure the natural environment be left in a better state than before.
Patrick Hall, Senior Research Fellow at Bright Blue and report author, commented:
“The public strongly supports the Government’s current policies to protect and restore the natural environment. However, the public expect to see the Government, and its agencies, taking a higher level of responsibility than currently to conserve nature.
“The public marginally favours more interventionist policies for the protection of the natural environment over those which are financially incentivising. The public want to see higher fines for littering, minimum product standards, mandatory product labelling, and bans on non-recyclable black plastic and non-flushable wet wipes.”
The Rt Hon George Eustice MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, commented:
“It is vital we build back greener from the pandemic and address the twin challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss to protect and improve the environment for future generations.
“Our Environment Bill will deliver the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on earth, including a new world-leading target on species populations which will drive action to halt the decline of nature and wildlife.
“We will also establish 30,000 hectares more woodland every year until the end of this Parliament and are working hard to protect 30% of the UK’s land by 2030.”
Jenny Merriman, Associate Director for Natural Capital & Biodiversity at WSP, said:
“Local authorities have a pivotal role to play and public support was evident in the survey for money to be spent locally for nature protection. Within the Environment Bill, councils and combined authorities will be required to boost biodiversity through measures such as Local Nature Recovery Strategies but will need additional resources and skills to be able to do so.”
Bright Blue’s key findings include:
- Only minorities of the UK public believe local governments, devolved governments and the UK Government are doing enough to protect and enhance the natural environment. 32% of the public believes that local authorities are doing enough to protect and enhance the natural environment in the UK, and this falls to 28% for the UK Government. For those living in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales, only 23% believe that their devolved government is doing enough. For the UK Government and devolved governments, the UK public are more likely to believe they are not doing enough to protect and enhance the natural environment (38% and 34% respectively). Only charities and voluntary groups are believed to be doing enough by a majority of the public, with 62% believing so.
- The UK are most likely to believe the wider public and businesses are not doing enough to protect and enhance the natural environment. Businesses performed most poorly, with a plurality of 44% of the UK public believing they are not doing enough. Likewise, a plurality of 42% believe the wider public is not doing enough. Younger adults between the ages of 18 and 34 are more likely to feel that the public themselves and businesses were doing enough to protect and enhance the natural environment in the UK (36% and 30% respectively) than older adults over the age of 55 (16% and 8% respectively).
- Majorities of the public believe government agencies (59%), national (58%) and local governments (52%) should have very high levels of responsibility for the protection and enhancement of the natural environment. These are the actors that are attributed the most responsibility by the public overall when asked to give a score between one and ten, with a score between eight and ten indicating a very high level of responsibility. Businesses and international organisations were seen as those who should be relatively less responsible, with only 37% of adults believing they should have very high levels of responsibility. Older adults are more likely to attribute very high levels of responsibility to all actors compared to younger adults. A significant majority of those aged 55 and above (72%) attributed very high responsibility towards government agencies, whereas only a minority (41%) of under 35s did so. The same occurred for the national government, where 67% of older adults attributed very high responsibility compared to only 44% for younger adults.
- The UK public prefers bans on products which are harmful to the natural environment over financial incentives from government for individuals to make more sustainable choices. A majority of the UK public (59%) prefers bans on products which are harmful to the natural environment, in comparison to 41% who prefer financial incentives from government for individuals to make more sustainable choices. Product bans are favoured by a slim majority (52%) of younger adults aged 18 to 34, whereas a larger majority (66%) of older adults over 55 favour them.
- The public is divided over increasing taxes on businesses that produce and sell products which are harmful to the natural environment, or increasing financial subsidies, such as grants or tax cuts, for businesses which produce less harmful products. Again, younger adults are more likely to favour ‘carrots’, and older adults ‘sticks’. The majority (62%) of those between the ages of 18 to 34 favour financial subsidies for businesses whereas the majority of over 55s (63%) favour increased taxes.
- The public is more likely to support the introduction of minimum product standards to protect the natural environment than mandatory product labelling. The more interventionist approach of banning goods and services which are harmful to the natural environment from entering the market is preferred over helping consumers to make more informed choices when deciding what products to purchase, albeit marginally (70% versus 67%) Those over 55 are more likely to support the introduction of both minimum product standards and mandatory product labelling (81% and 76% respectively) compared to those aged 18 to 34 (53% and 58% respectively).
- The UK public supports limiting overseas aid and trade agreements for the protection of the natural environment. A majority of the UK public support limiting overseas aid (59%) and trade agreements (55%) for the protection of the natural environment. Support for both is notably higher among those over the age of 55. In the case of stopping overseas aid which harms the natural environment, 73% of those over 55 support it while only 43% of those aged 18 to 34 do. The inclusion of conservation clauses within trade agreements, possibly making future trade deals more difficult to agree, is supported by 63% of over 55s and only 44% of those aged 18 to 34.
- The public strongly supports the leading domestic Government policies to protect and enhance the natural environment with all receiving majority support. Protecting 30% of the UK’s land from environmental harm by 2030 is the most widely supported policy (75%), followed by a requirement for developers to enhance the natural environment when building new houses (74%) and establishing a network of places that are important for wildlife (73%). Older adults are more likely to support all of the UK Government’s leading domestic policies tested than younger adults. For example, of those over 55, 85% supported banning fishing companies from dredging in designated Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), whereas only 54% of those aged 18 to 34 said the same. When it came to establishing a joined up network of places that are important for wildlife, 84% of those over 55 supported this policy compared to 62% of those aged 18 to 34.
- A majority of the UK public support all current UK Government policies for protecting and enhancing the natural environment internationally, except increasing foreign aid towards global conservation efforts. Stopping the exporting of waste to developing countries, which was promised in the 2019 Conservative Government’s election manifesto, is the policy with the highest level of public support (67%), followed by pushing for future fishing subsidies to be used only for sustainability and livelihood support (67%) and providing counter-poaching training and support to combat the illegal wildlife trade (64%). While there is not overall majority support among the public for increasing foreign aid towards global conservation efforts, a significant minority (45%) of the public still support the idea, with a slim majority of younger adults (54%) supportive.
- A majority (53%) of the public would support new development on the Green Belt provided the developers are required to materially improve the natural environment. Support is strongest among those aged 18 to 34, with 67% of this age group supporting new development on the Green Belt under this provision. Support is weaker among older people, however, with 52% of those over the age of 55 opposing new development on the Green Belt, even if it materially improved the natural environment. Moreover, support is also high among those who live in London (65%) compared to less than 55% for all other regions. Similarly, 65% of those who live in urban areas support Green Belt development if it materially improves the natural environment, compared to only significant minorities in suburban and rural areas, 49% and 43% respectively.
- A firm majority (74%) of the public support a requirement for developers to enhance the natural environment when building new houses. This policy applies to all new housing developments, not just those on the green belt. But out of all domestic government policies we tested, this was the second most popular policy, behind only the UK Government’s policy to protect 30% of the UK’s land from environmental harm by 2030, which 75% of the UK public supported.
- 72% of the public would be more likely to support new infrastructure development if it is accompanied by an obligation to materially improve the natural environment in the same area where such developments are occurring. This compares to only 10% of adults saying it wouldn’t influence their decision to support or oppose developments.Recently, the Government announced that it will be amending the Environment Bill to require a biodiversity net gain for nationally significant infrastructure projects. This report shows strong public support for this policy.
Stanley Johnson, International Ambassador of the Conservative Environment Network, commented:
“World leaders have pledged to halt and reverse the destruction of nature and the loss of biodiversity by 2030. This important report demonstrates that, though public opinion is increasingly concerned, there is still some way to go before the protection of nature and wildlife finds its rightful place at the very top of national and international priorities. So much to do, so little time to do it!”
Professor Alastair Driver, Director of Rewilding Britain, commented:
“An excellent, eye-opening report from Bright Blue showing clearly that we have some way to go to get the message across to the public that climate change and biodiversity loss are critically entwined with economic resilience and should be top of everyone’s “biggest worries” list. Not that we should be gloomy about this – we know what to do to tackle these problems – we “just” need to get our act together and make it happen, before the problem becomes irreversible.”
Dominic Jermey, Director-General of the Zoological Society of London, commented:
“All the data shows the natural world is under extreme threat, and heading in the wrong direction. Changing that means winning hearts and minds for wildlife. This report provides real insight into UK attitudes towards our natural environment. While it’s clear that the people of the UK care about nature, the report underlines how much we need to come together – as NGOs, government and civil society – to bring nature into every decision we make. Whether it’s one person deciding on their dinner, a company managing a supply chain, or government policy around housing or healthcare – nature simply must feature in the decision-making if we are to improve our wellbeing, protect what we value, and reverse its decline.”
You can read the polling results in full here.
