The Seven British Segments

Underpinning Britain Talks Climate & Nature, are the seven British segments, produced by More in Common. These segments group British society into seven distinct audience segments based on people’s values, core beliefs and worldviews. 

The seven British segments are more than simply left vs right, or grouping people based on demographics. Instead they go deeper into our psychology, culture and values-driven views and opinions – something we know works for effective public engagement on climate change and nature.

Identifying and exploring how these seven segments think and feel about climate change and nature allows us to understand how different people differ and diverge in their thoughts and feelings, but also what they share and have in common. Ultimately, this allows us to tell great climate stories that resonate with people’s values across Britain.

The seven segments have evolved and our understanding has grown since the original launch back in 2020. More in Common have updated these groups to match the Britain of 2025, following a pandemic, a cost of living crisis, four Prime Ministers, a General Election, major international conflicts, the rise of new political movements and the transformation of the media landscape.

They want climate action to make the world a better place

Who are the Progressive Activists? 

• They want to make the world a better place and can be idealistic, radical, uncompromising, political and globally-focussed.
• They trust experts, but feel let down by mainstream politics.
• They prioritise issues like climate change, social justice, global conflicts, but also worry about the cost of living.
• Economically and socially left-leaning, and they support increased migration and the redistribution of wealth.
• The least likely to say they are proud to be British.
• Sometimes ideological and are the only segment who enjoy talking about politics.

Progressive Activists on climate change

Progressive Activists are very worried about climate change, and want urgent action

They: 

• Have highest levels of worry about climate change (85%), 
• Are most likely to think it is an important issue (95%), 
• Are most likely to want us to move quickly (81%) and ambitiously (95%) in our response to climate change.

• 68% of Progressive Activists say they have an emotional response when others talk about climate change.
• They put this down to feeling sad and worried about the future of the planet (70%). 
• A significant majority (81%) will not avoid talking about climate change and will do so when it comes up.
• They tend to feel more warm towards someone they know who joins a climate change march (gave a score of 73 on a 100-point scale slider, compared to an average of 55).

Progressive Activists worry that climate change will harm nature and cause hardship for the world’s poorest

• Along with most segments, Progressive Activists are most worried that climate change will harm nature and wildlife (56%). 
• They are significantly more likely than others to be concerned that climate change will cause hardship for the world’s poorest (50%). 
• Like others, they are worried about bill increases, floods and heatwaves.

Progressive Activists are most likely to understand climate terminology, but they struggle with niche terminology  

• They are very likely to say they understand the term net zero (84%), and are much more likely than all other segments to think net zero is a good thing (74%) despite not having much trust in politicians to follow through. 
• But even this highly engaged and concerned segment struggles to understand niche terms like “just transition” and “degrowth.” 

Progressive Activists distrust governments and are worried about their response to climate change

• They are most likely to worry that the government’s response to climate change is not effective (57%).
• They are highly supportive of policies to tackle climate change, but they usually feel that the policies are not doing enough. 
• As well as policies that would support wildlife, they would prioritise government climate policies that lower emissions as fast as possible (40%), and that help businesses to lower their emissions (28%), and are affordable and cost-saving for the least well-off (28%).

Progressive Activists trust experts who take the grave threat of climate change seriously

When it comes to who they trust to tackle climate change:

• Progressive Activists are the most likely to say they would not trust a politician (70%) or an executive of an energy company (62%). 
• They are most likely to trust experts who take the grave threat of climate change seriously (75%), have high quality experience working on this topic (82%), and are scientific and use lots of specialist knowledge (74%). 

Translation from 2020-2024 version of the British Seven Segments: The Progressive Activists segment is not a new segment and is in fact the most similar to the previous version.

Incrementalist Left - 21% of the population

Believe in communities and leaders working together on climate change to improve the status quo

Who are the Incrementalist Left?

• Socially liberal with high trust in experts and institutions to deliver positive change.
• They tend to avoid radical change and prefer gradually improving the status quo. 
• Fairly conflict-averse, valuing compromise and sensible discussions to solve conflict. 
• Tend to avoid both politics and reading the news. They will often think about news stories through the personalities involved rather than the issues.
• Very civically engaged and community-oriented in their day-to-day lives, they feel more connected to society than others.
• They value multiculturalism, and they are very likely to volunteer in their local community and donate to local faith centres. 

Incrementalist Left on climate change 

Incrementalist Left are worried about climate and want quick, considered action, rather than radical change

• The second most likely segment to be highly worried about climate change (76%) and to think it’s an important issue (84%).
• They are the segment most connected to nature.
• They are the most worried that climate change will harm nature and wildlife (45%), and will increase the risk of floods (30%) and heatwaves (29%).
• They tend to prefer a less radical approach to tackling climate change than Progressive Activists, actively talk about it less, and feel slightly less uncertain about the future.
• A majority (64%) feel we should move quickly in our response to climate change, second only to Progressive Activists (81%).

Incrementalist Lefts are increasingly conscious of climate change in their own actions

• Already adopting low carbon behaviours at home including; recycling, reducing electricity and walking, cycling or using public transport.
• They are the most likely to buy local foods and cut down on food waste (49%). 
• The most likely to say they have been doing more to protect the environment in the last year than in years before (45%).

Incrementalist Lefts are on board with more mainstream climate language, both the terminology and the meaning beneath

• Fairly high levels of understanding around climate language and terminology, being the most likely to be clear on what climate resilience means (53%) and second most likely to think climate resilience, net zero, climate justice and green growth are good things.
• Despite relatively high knowledge of climate terms, this segment struggles to understand some climate buzzwords like “degrowth” and “just transition”. 

Incrementalist Lefts want to see emissions reduced quickly at home and abroad, whilst supporting wildlife and food production

• They feel slightly more reassured than most other segments that the government will tackle climate change effectively, though this is still the minority (17%). 

• Their top policy priorities are; protecting our food supply and supporting British farmers (37%), supporting wildlife (26%), prioritising lowering emissions as fast as possible (25%), and encouraging other countries to lower their emissions (25%). 

• They have split views on whether a leader who scraps climate policies that are costing the UK too much or aren’t working is strong (30%) or weak (39%), even if others say it will slow our progress on tackling climate change. 
• A majority (53%) feel that being a leader on climate is the right thing to do for the UK.

Incrementalist Lefts are trusting, favouring people with real-world experience using real-world language

• They tend to be more trusting in people in general to talk about climate change.
• More likely than others to trust someone who speaks in a language that is easy to understand (59%), and who has an understanding of what life is like for normal Britons (65%). 
• They trust those who have high-quality experience working on this topic (72%) and are serious about the grave threat of climate change (69%).

Translation from 2020-2024 version of the British Seven segments: The Incrementalist Left segment is one of the newer groups for 2025. This group is a mix of the original Civic Pragmatists, Established Liberals and Disengaged Battlers, with some links to the Loyal Nationals segment.

Established Liberals - 9% of the population

Believe we’re moving in the right direction on climate through a mix of technology, innovation and global co-operation 

Who are the Established Liberals? 

• Comfortable, secure, trusting and compromising.
• They have the highest life satisfaction, being comfortable in the status quo and believing that for the most part the system works fairly.
• High trust in institutions like government or mainstream media.
• They feel that hard work can get you where you want to go in life and, more so than any other segment, believe that the ultra wealthy already pay more than their fair share.
• The most likely to have pride in being British, seeing the country as a leader in driving forward liberal social and economic policy, globally.
• The only segment who don’t rank finances as the top cause of stress in their life, instead mostly choosing ‘None of the above’ when given a  list of common causes of stress.
• Optimistic that new technologies and expert knowledge will make society better in the future, as in the past
• Most likely to track down facts and stats to inform their views.
• They have a keen interest in politics and favour cross-party collaboration to solve complex and technical societal problems without quick-fixes.

Established Liberals on climate change 

Established Liberals are worried and concerned about climate, but optimistic about our future

• They think climate change is important (84%), and are third most worried  about it (73%).
• In line with their trust in institutions they are the segment most reassured by the government response to climate change (23%). 
• They are the second most connected to nature of all the segments, with harm to nature being their most common worry (47%).

Established Liberals want the UK to be world leaders in climate action, but equally see impacts as happening close to home

• They are more likely than most people to be proud of the UK being a climate leader in the world (53%).
• They think about climate change impacts abroad (23%) and at home (20%) similarly to the general population.

Established Liberals want action now and are happy to say it

• They favour moving quickly (60%) and ambitiously (78%) in response to climate change, both considerably more than average.
• The most likely to say that current climate policies are fair to them (55%), and the second most likely segment to think reaching net zero will be good for the UK (62%).
• Only around half (48%) have a strong emotional response to climate change but they do not avoid talking about climate change with other people.

Established Liberals trust government and business to speak about climate

• Fewer than half (48%) of Established Liberals would support a campaign group calling for net zero, but a majority would support those saying they will tackle climate change (58%) or protect the environment (63%)
• The least likely of any segment (37%) to be distrusting of politicians speaking about climate change
• The most likely to be trusting of energy executives (25%) and of those who have experience running a successful business (42%)

Translation from 2020-2024 version of the British Seven: The Established Liberals segment is not a new segment and translates across to the previous version. 

Sceptical Scrollers - 10% of the population

Online, engaged, up for radical change but alienated by the way climate decisions are made

Who are the Sceptical Scrollers? 

• Digitally native, tending to be younger and more regular users of social media.
• Open to different ideas, curious and non-ideological, relying less on mainstream channels of information, they seek out a greater number of authentic, personal sources then draw their own conclusions.
• They feel disillusioned by politics, feeling alienated by the ways decisions are made in this country and can’t remember a time when politics actually worked.
• They are the most likely to post about politics on social media, but are least likely to vote in local elections. 
• They have low levels of trust for traditional institutions such as political parties and government, mainstream media, faith institutions and the judicial system.
• They believe in radical change to address society’s big problems. 
• Unwilling to compromise and value those who stick to their principles.

Sceptical Scrollers on climate change 

Sceptical Scrollers are less concerned and think about climate change less regularly than most but, when they do, they think locally

• Despite their sceptical world view most Sceptical Scrollers are not sceptical about climate change, although they are less worried (58%) about and think it’s less important (62%) than the average person.
• They are most likely to say that they have done less for the environment recently than in previous years (14%).
• They are by far the least connected to nature, but still rank harm to nature as the issue they worry about most (46%) followed by potential flooding (28%).
• They are the least likely to say they worry about climate change causing their bills to rise (10%).
• More than any of the other segments, they think about impacts of climate change close to home (33%) rather than internationally (17%).
• They tend to think about climate change less than the average person, with only 20% thinking about it a lot.

Sceptical Scrollers stick close to the overall average on how the government deals with climate change

• They slightly favour moving cautiously (53%) but ambitiously (56%) with climate action.

• Despite their disillusionment with institutions, Sceptical Scrollers feel the third most reassured (16%) with the government’s response to climate change.
• They feel more that politicians should be using a cross-party approach to climate change action (50%) rather than it being healthy to have various options to vote on (34%).
• By far the most likely (43%) to say politicians should move quickly and trust their instincts, even if it means overlooking the concerns of local people, although half of the segment still feel listening to as many residents as possible is preferable. 

Sceptical Scrollers often choose a nuanced middle ground, reflecting their feeling that the world is made of individuals with diverse experiences

• They are the segment most likely to think both that current climate change policies were neither fair nor unfair to them (77%), and that net zero is neither good nor bad for the UK (40%).
• Across a broad range of pro- and anti-climate policies from charging more for frequent flying to reopening the coal mines, they are consistently less likely than most to say the policy ‘goes too far’.
• They don’t feel like a lack of knowledge on a subject like the energy transition would stop them from sharing their views to the council
• They are much more likely to say that a given attribute makes a person less trustworthy on climate. This included attributes ranging from showing passion about climate change, to being upbeat, sharing the same background as them or having no ties to government or business
• Sceptical Scrollers are the least proud than all other segments in UK efforts to help the environment – from protecting nature through national parks to stopping littering, maintaining footpaths to planting trees

Translation from 2020-2024 version of the British Seven: The Sceptical Scrollers is the newest segment for 2025, and the one most unlike what we’ve had before. This segment is the most similar to the original Disengaged Battlers segment, with some similar values ranging across a number of the other original segments, namely the Loyal Nationals segment, the Established Liberals and the Backbone Conservatives, but also in some ways the Disengaged Traditionalists.

Rooted Patriots - 20% of the population

Proud of Britain’s past, and their community, they want a climate future they can be proud of 

Who are the Rooted Patriots?

• Proud of Britain’s history and nostalgic about the past.
• They are distrustful of experts and politicians and feel overlooked, abandoned and left behind. This feeds a strong sense of loss and a feeling of the system being rigged against them. 
• They have the highest threat perception of any segment and are very risk averse
• They’re cautious, preferring stability over drastic change, and want leaders who show common sense, but don’t particularly like talking about politics.
• For them, putting Britain first and maintaining British culture is key. Rooted Patriots are most likely to want tougher sentences for those who break the law.
• They take a very local outlook on life, deeply valuing their local community and are the most likely out of all segments to vote on issues specifically affecting them and their family. 
• This segment is very concerned about what they perceive to be immigration’s impact on the economy and public services. They also feel economic growth should be more fairly distributed across Britain – tending to take more of a left-leaning approach to the economy compared to their more right-leaning social views.

Rooted Patriots on climate change 

Rooted Patriots are less connected to climate change emotionally, but have concern about the impacts on their lives

• The fourth most likely out of the segments to feel worried about climate change (65%) and to think it’s an important issue (74%).
• They are the most likely to feel worried about the world in which young people will live (63%).
• Other top issues selected were harm coming to nature and wildlife (41%), increasing the risk of floods (32%) and climate change causing bills and costs to rise (28%).
• They feel generally connected to nature, just below average.
• They are more likely to think about climate impacts close to home than around the world.
• They are among the most likely to say they have no particularly strong emotional response when others talk about climate change but feel there’s nothing they can do about it any way (26%), or they find it too depressing (21%) and complicated (21%).

Rooted patriots are proud of our natural spaces and of the local people who look after them

• They are more proud of our efforts to protect national parks and plant trees than other pro-environmental actions we presented.
• The segment feels more warmly towards people organising community litter picks (gave a score of 72 on a 100-point scale slider) and volunteering in nature reserves (score of 70) compared to other pro-environmental actions people they know could take that we presented.

Rooted patriots are pro-net zero and favour ambitious action on climate, but are not convinced by climate leadership

• They’re twice as likely to think net zero is a good thing (41%) than a bad thing (17%). 
• They are more than twice as likely to support an ambitious response to climate change than a restrained one (69% vs 32%), but are split on whether we should move quickly (53%) or move cautiously (47%).
• They are the segment fourth most likely to be proud of building new wind and solar farms, closest to the population average.
• They are unlikely to think climate leadership is a good thing (24%), and third most likely to say that the government’s response to climate change makes them feel worried the issue won’t be tackled effectively. 

Rooted Patriots prioritise policies that protect food, wildlife and those who are the least well off

• Their top priorities for policies which respond to climate change include; protecting our food supply and supporting British farmers (45%), supporting wildlife (29%), and being affordable for the least well off (23%). 
• This segment is also second most likely to want to prioritise policies being affordable or cost-saving to themselves (20%).

Rooted Patriots hold low levels of trust for those talking about climate, but having real-life or technical experience can help boost it

• They have low levels of trust in messengers, from politicians to businesses to environmental activists.
• They are second least likely (7%) to trust someone if they’ve been a part of a protest group.
• Half (50%) of this segment would be more likely to trust someone if they speak in language that is easy to understand and similarly if someone come from a community that has been directly impacted by climate change.
• Over half would be more likely to trust someone if they have an understanding of what life is like for normal Britons, or if they have high-quality experience working on this topic (53% and 59%, respectively).

Translation from 2020-2024 version of the British Seven segments: The Rooted Patriots segment can be viewed as highly similar to some in the original Loyal Nationals segment who prefer gradual change and are very risk averse. There is also a small mix of similar values to the original Backbone Conservatives and Disengaged Traditionalists.

Traditional Conservatives - 8% of the population

They believe in respecting the environment, but worry that climate action is overbearing and unfair

Who are the Traditional Conservatives?

• They are nostalgic, worrying about a decline in respect for tradition and authority, but optimistic that future generations will have a better life than them.
• For them, change and progress should be gradual and cautious, not drastic and radical.
• Typically they own their own home and live in rural areas.
• They are a wealthier segment and the most White.
• They feel a mutual respect with formal institutions like government and the strongest respect for authority and tradition.
• They believe in personal responsibility and in having a system where people are free to flourish and achieve their dreams by hard work and sticking to the rules.

Traditional Conservatives on climate change

Traditional Conservatives are the least worried and emotional about climate

• The most likely to feel both unworried by climate change (42%), and that it is not an important issue (45%). 
• They are the third least likely (21%) to spend time thinking about climate change, and when they do they balance between thinking locally (17%) and internationally (22%).
• They are the least likely to have a strong emotional response to climate change (29%), and many avoid talking about it where possible (36%).
• Climate issues that do worry them are harm to nature (31%) and increase risk of floods (26%), but 32% feel climate won’t impact their life.
• They are connected to nature, though slightly less so than the population average.

Traditional Conservatives are not reassured by net zero and government action, thinking policies are unfair to people like them and cost them a lot more money in the long term

• They are the least reassured (4%) that government responses to climate change will tackle it effectively, being the segment most likely to think that net zero is bad for the UK (38%).
• They are the second most likely to think that climate policies are unfair to people like them (20%).
• Most likely to think that policies to tackle climate change will cost them a lot of money (84%), and that scrapping them could save them a lot of money (44%) in the long run.
• They are the second least likely (18%) to say the UK being a climate leader makes them proud.

Traditional Conservatives feel that incremental change that retains the way we live now is favourable over a more radical, rapid transition

• They are the most likely to favour climate action that is both cautious (75%) and restrained (64%) rather than fast moving and ambitious.
• By far the least likely to think that action on climate should also result in a more equal society (net 6%).
• Most likely to say that climate adaptation should favour protecting the current way of life (68%) rather than an opportunity to reshape the future.
• However, they are forgivingly pragmatic, being the only segment where a majority (55%) would prefer a leader to break a climate promise in order to adapt to difficult circumstances.

Traditional Conservatives lack trust in those in politics or protests, favouring specialists and farmers

• Despite trusting institutions, they do not trust politicians on climate (4%) with similar levels of trust in messengers from protest groups and those under 25 (both 4%).
• They do trust those with specialist knowledge (49%), people who work in farming (45%) and those with no ties to politician/corporate interests (52%).

Traditional Conservatives have strong dislike for frequently used climate action terms and phrases

• The term ‘net zero’ is seen more as a bad thing (40%) than a good thing (30%) – with Traditional Conservatives the only segment to have net negative reaction to the term.
• They see the terms ‘climate justice’, ‘just transition’ and ‘climate leadership’ less favourably than did all other segments (net -18%, net -16%, net -3% respectively). Similarly the term ‘green growth’ was seen favourably, but much less so than all other segments (net 17%).

Translation from 2020-2024 version of the British Seven segments: The Traditional Conservative segment translates across the more ‘Conservative core’ of the previous Backbone Conservatives segment, with some similar values to the original Disengaged Traditionalists.

Dissenting Disruptors - 20% of the population

While they recognise the need to tackle climate change, they believe the system is rigged and it’s leaving them behind 

Who are the Dissenting Disruptors? 

• Frustrated with society in the UK this segment feels disconnected from other people, often to the point of feeling lonely and unrespected.
• They often haven’t moved far from where they grew up and feel the country is not working to give them the opportunity to work for their dreams.
• They see one set of rules for the rich and one set for the poor, criticising and lacking trust in both the beneficiaries (big business, billionaires) and those who enable them (government, mainstream media, elites). This includes lower trust in scientists compared to other segments.
• Any policy that maintains the status quo is disliked mainly because it would still come from the same people who have caused current issues.
• They support radical change from a strongman leader who is willing to rip up the unjust rulebook and give the voice back to ordinary people. 
• They worry about immigration causing the loss of British identity and reducing opportunity for those already here.

Dissenting Disruptors on climate change 

Dissenting Disruptors think climate is an important issue, but are less worried and think about it less than others

• They are the least likely to say that they are worried about climate change (43%) and the second least likely to say it is important, although a majority still think it is (59%).
• Although they are the second least likely to be doing more to protect the environment now that in years previous (25%), as with all other segments the majority (69%) still do the same as they always have.
• They are the only segment who are most worried about impacts that cause bills to rise (34%).
• They are connected to nature, though slightly less so than the population average.
• They are the segment least likely to worry about climate change harming nature and wildlife (27%).
• A quarter (25%) are not worried about climate change impacting their life at all in the next ten years.

Dissenting Disruptors don’t think about climate change very often, and talk about it even less 

• They are the segment most likely to say they don’t think about climate change much (87%) and over two thirds (69%) have no emotional response when others talk of climate change.
• They are the segment most likely (38%) to avoid talking about climate change if possible.

Dissenting Disruptors are suspicious of national and international climate action

• They are the least likely to think about the impacts of climate change around the world (13%) rather than close to home and are second most likely to think the UK being a leader on climate is a waste of time until bigger countries do more (54%).
• Though they prefer (65%) a cautious approach to climate action, their general desire for radical change means that half (50%) still want to see ambition.
• They are the segment most likely to say climate policies already implemented are unfair to them (35%).
• They are slightly more likely to say net zero is bad (34%) for the UK than good (30%).

Dissenting Disruptors trust people who show their real lived experience

• As with most other segments, over half (53%) of Dissenting Disruptors are more likely to trust someone with high quality experience of climate change.
• Although they are the segment second most likely (62%) to trust people who understand what life is like for normal people in Britain, and second most likely (42%) to trust farmers to talk about climate.
• Second only to Progressive Activists, they are more likely (51%) than not to distrust climate talk from energy company executives. 

Translation from 2020-2024 version of the British Seven segments: The Dissenting Disruptors align most strongly with the original Loyal Nationals and the Disengaged Traditionalist segments, but with some high levels of distrust similar to the Disengaged Battlers.