How people think and feel
Deep distrust is affecting how people are feeling about a host of issues
Trust in politicians, institutions, big businesses and companies is at rock bottom. This taints how people interpret words and promises being spoken, statistics and facts being cited and actions being taken.
Distrust infuses people’s thoughts and feelings about a whole host of issues across society, including climate change. People are fed up with what they see as empty promises and set backs, and feel let down by leaders who they perceive as not there for people like them. There is general disillusionment in politics which bleeds into distrust in leadership across a number of issues.
“I've just lost my trust in anything that anybody brings into government. When we look at what happened with COVID and all the things were given to their friends for money... I just don’t know what to trust on it anymore.”
Dissenting Disruptor, Dartford
“Never in a million years [would locals be listened to on climate and environment issues]... Aberdeen used to be a bustling oil capital, had so much going for it. But you come to Aberdeen now all you see is junkies, betting shops, restaurants, cafeterias, takeaways, crime is rife in Aberdeen”
Dissenting Disruptor, Aberdeen North
People still support strong and ambitious leadership on climate and nature
Despite current levels of distrust among Brits on many issues across society, including on climate leadership, people do want strong leadership to protect our environment. They want leadership they can feel proud of.
“I think we've moved in the right direction just in terms of people taking it more seriously. I think we have more people advocating for it. There's more people in positions of power talking about it now, like the royal family and things like that. But I think we're not doing anywhere near enough, and I just think that globally, not just our country, but there are huge things that we could be doing that we're just not.”
Incrementalist Left, Basingstoke
“...I think maybe more around that time [the 2024 election] maybe I felt more positive, I guess because people are selling their idea, aren't they, to get votes I guess. So then maybe I feel like it [addressing climate and environment issues] slipped, but I think everything slipped."
Progressive Activist, Brighton
“...I don't know whether we are on track on that net zero policy, but I do hope we are and obviously the government tries to encourage people to be cautious of the environment, so hopefully in the next few years we'll head to net zero.”
Sceptical Scroller, Glasgow Central Constituencies
Leaders should stand firm on and ramp up ambitious climate action. Support for this is enduring and ignites feelings of pride and perceptions of strong leadership
Leaders should stand firm on delivering ambitious climate action. Support for this is enduring and ignites feelings of pride and perceptions of strong leadership.
Brits are most likely to see the following as a sign of a strong rather than a weak leader:
..to see ‘committing to and delivering ambitious climate policies, even if people say they won’t be possible’ as a sign of a strong rather than a weak leader
..to see ‘taking on businesses that pollute the environment, even if others say it might discourage businesses from investing in the UK’ as a sign of a strong rather than a weak leader
..to see ‘investing in energy projects that will make electricity cheaper in the long run, even if the measures are currently unpopular and will temporarily cost people more money’ as a sign of a strong rather than a weak leader
“...if it's taking on companies that pollute the environment, then that's going to affect climate change. Why would you invest in companies who pollute the environment?”
Rooted Patriot, Anglesey
Across all audience segments, more people view committing to and delivering on ambitious climate policies as a sign of a strong leader, although for the Traditional Conservatives, slightly more of this segment would be likely to say ‘it doesn’t say anything about the leader’.
Perceptions of whether ‘committing to and delivering on ambitious climate policies, even if people say they won’t be possible’ is a sign of a strong or a weak leader, by segment
Perceptions of whether ‘taking on businesses that pollute the environment, even if others say it might discourage businesses from investing in the UK’ is a sign of a strong or a weak leader, by segment
Perceptions of whether ‘investing in energy projects that will make electricity cheaper in the long run, even if the measures are currently unpopular and will temporarily cost people more money’ is a sign of a strong or a weak leader, by segment
Brits want leaders who stay the course, and keep promises
Across the board, people see leadership on climate change in the face of challenge as a sign of strong leadership. 62% of Brits think leaders should keep their promises on climate action even if it proves difficult to implement, versus just 38% who think leaders should break their promise in order to adapt. Only Traditional Conservatives are more likely to want leaders to break promises to adapt in the face of challenges.
The extent to which people want leaders to keep or break their promises on climate action if it’s found to be difficult to implement, by segment
Distrust and disillusionment shapes people’s thoughts and feelings on climate
The severely low levels of trust across society influence how people think about climate action and leadership. It’s not that people are opposed to tackling climate change, it’s that they don’t trust those in power to do the right thing.
“I think the government, they're almost hiding behind it all and scared to admit that there is a problem here. They're acting like they're all over it, but I don't think they actually know what they're doing.”
Sceptical Scroller, Glasgow Central
“...the politicians fly all over the world. So what kind of example are they setting? It's just they say it because they think people will fall for it and actually we're not stupid, we're not falling for it. But who's going to tell them?...”
Traditional Conservative, Oxfordshire
Generally, talking about progress invites positive responses - but citing statistics can lead to some scepticism
We asked people if they knew how much of the UK’s electricity is made from renewables. On average, Brits underestimated this at 38%. When we told them the actual answer was 51%, we asked for a word or two about how that made them feel.
Word cloud of open-text responses to the question ‘The actual answer is 51% (of the UK’s electricity is made from renewables). In a word or two how does that make you feel?’ (Source: More in Common and Climate Outreach, June 2025)
While participants in our survey were pleasantly surprised to hear about this progress, we heard more scepticism in focus groups – chiefly because of a pervading general distrust of statistics.
“It's statistics, isn't it, at the end of the day. And they can be made to say whatever you want, but it just seems so unrealistic to say that [emissions of Britain have fallen by 54% since the 1990s].”
Established Liberal, Godalming
“Statistics can be tortured to show anything you want them to show. So I share scepticism.”
Traditional Conservative, Oxfordshire
“...I think there's just so many agendas and competing priorities that you can bend any stats and figures and stuff to meet what you want it to say…”
Incrementalist Left, Basingstoke
People trust those who show credibility, passion and empathy
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The extent to which different attributes make people more likely to trust what someone has to say about climate change, by segment
Echoing our research from 2024, our 2025 findings show that people are more likely to trust those speaking about climate change who are credible:
- have high-quality experience working on the topic (64%)
- have a science or climate-related academic qualification (57%)
- are scientific and use lots of specialist knowledge (54%)
Who are passionate:
- are serious about the grave threat of climate change (52%)
- are passionate about tackling climate change (51%)
- speak in a language that is easy to understand (51%)
And, who are empathetic:
- have an understanding of what life is like for normal Britons (57%)
- come from a community directly impacted by climate change (53%)
54% of Brits would be more likely to trust someone that has no ties to any political or corporate interests.
People feel less trusting of those who are part of protest or activist groups
We asked about a range of attributes and whether they made people feel more or less likely to trust what someone has to say about climate. “They are part of a protest or activist group” was twice as likely to make people less trusting (37%) than more trusting (18%).
Leaders who are ambitious for nature are supported across the board
Brits also think it’s important to have leaders who take action on climate change that:
- protects animals and wildlife (86% see this as important)
- develops innovative new technologies (72% see this as important)
- provides reassurance about young people’s futures (71% see this as important)
- prioritises British people and industries (70% see this as important)
This differs slightly across audience segments. Progressive Activists, Incrementalist Lefts, Established Liberals and Rooted Patriots place more importance on leaders who take action that reassures children’s future. Traditional Conservatives, Dissenting Disruptors and Rooted Patriots place more importance on leaders who take action that prioritises British people and industry.
The extent to which people feel different priorities being met when taking action on climate change are important, by segment
People want collective, global leadership on climate as well as wanting to see tangible action and leadership at the local level
In previous research, Britain doing its bit globally has been a well performing message. This is still the case in 2025, but people’s need for tangible, local action and stories has increased, and with it people’s concern about what other countries are doing/not doing.
Feelings towards the UK being a leader on climate change, by segment
Brits are more likely to say that ‘the UK being a leader on climate action is the right thing to do for the world, and makes me feel proud’ (39%), however 31% would say ‘the UK being a leader on climate action is a waste of time until other bigger countries like the US and China agree to do the same, and makes me feel frustrated’.
Traditional Conservatives and Dissenting Disruptors are much more likely to take this view, but we hear this frustration about the need for global action across audience segments.
“...across the world we're on this globe of ours and… coal power powered fire stations are being built every year. And more than that actually in China, double that in India, Brazil, whatever. So the problem is really it is got to be a global solution to this. We can do our bit, sure we can, but ultimately the environment is a worldwide thing and it's being ruined by much bigger countries with far bigger detrimental processes…”
Traditional Conservative, Oxfordshire
“...And I think that there are some countries doing everything they can to improve the planet for us all. But then some of the countries are doing the total opposite. So it almost begs the question why we are spending the billions that we are when others are not…”
Dissenting Disruptor, Merthyr Tydfil
“...we might do our bit, but yet there are other countries, for instance, China's one of the biggest ones… So you are distributing to them, but actually they're not doing their bit either. So actually it contradicts everything that we do. So it has to be a world effort, but I get that actually there has to be somewhere that has to start…”
Progressive Activist, Bristol
“Unless the whole world does exactly the same, nothing will change. We are literally 1, 2% of the whole world's carbon emissions, whatever. We've all got to pull our weight. It's not just us. We are just carrying the financial burden of the world.”
Rooted Patriot, Anglesey
People in Britain can be influenced negatively by messaging that frames our climate action in the UK as futile and punitive. While people generally support leadership on the issue, a global focus can make us feel powerless. But people do want global action on this – encouraging other countries to lower their emissions is in Britons’ top four priorities (22%) for government policies responding to climate change.
In England and Scotland people were almost equally split between thinking that the UK playing an international climate leadership role was a relevant or an outdated idea. Those in Wales however were more likely (57%) to feel the UK being a leader in this area is outdated.
In Scotland, people were much more likely to think climate decision making should come from Holyrood (46%) rather than Westminster (28%). In Wales, the view was more balanced between the Senedd and Westminster (both 35%). In both countries however, the difference between segments was stark with Progressive Activists wanting devolved power through to Traditional Conservatives strongly favouring decisions made in London.
Strategic implications
Be confident that Brits want leadership on climate change
Don’t assume that low levels of trust mean people don’t want and expect political leadership on climate change – they do. Voters want to see strong and robust leadership on climate and nature, and they want to hear about what this means for their own lives and local areas. Politicians and advocates should talk more proactively about this, and should robustly call out those who jettison our climate, nature and future.
Climate leadership needs to be grounded, local and tangible
People connect more with what’s happening locally. It feels more real and tangible. This is true for climate leadership too. Communicators should talk about the progress Britain is making through a local community lens. Talk about what differences are being made for local communities through climate policy.
We should be connecting leadership on climate with leadership on related issues like nature, health and wellbeing and local economic benefits.
Talk about this being a global effort for the many, rather than a responsibility for the few
Instead of assuming that people will be persuaded and motivated by talk of Britain leading on the global stage, we need to celebrate progress already happening around the world, and talk about our response to climate change being part of a global, collective effort.
Speak authentically, and draw in a wide range of trusted messengers who are credible, passionate and empathetic
Leaders should speak about climate change in a way that’s authentic and grounded. Connect to what people value and care about, rather than relying on stats and facts. In addition to displaying credibility, passion and empathy, leaders should be prepared to pass the mic to others who do show these traits.
BTC 2025 Insights Report
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