We're here to support your Net Zero ambitions

A landmark study has revealed that the majority of people in Scotland want to move forward with net zero efforts.

We, alongside Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, have been supporting Britain Talks Climate 2024, a study conducted by Climate Outreach and More in Common into people across Scotland, England and Wales and their concerns over climate and nature leadership.

Key points from the study have shown that the Scottish public is slightly more personally motivated to act on climate change (45%) than the rest of Britain. Furthermore, a majority of people in Scotland want to move ahead with net zero efforts (62%), and believe this will be mostly good, or very good for Scotland (61%).

Catherine Gee, our Deputy CEO, said: “It is heartening to learn from this research that almost half of the people of Scotland are personally motivated to act on climate change, especially at this time when Scottish interim climate change targets are being removed.

"We would all like to see stronger cross-party government leadership to combat climate change and restore nature and biodiversity, but we must not underestimate the power of individuals to make positive changes to accelerate emissions reductions and help us move towards the ultimate goal of becoming a climate and nature literate nation by 2045. And to help achieve this, we must collectively prioritise communicating the positive stories and not be distracted by the negative focus of politics and media.

"We are extremely proud to play our part in this much needed and timely research and it is heartening to see the public feel they have such a strong role to play in Scotland's net zero journey.

"Our Climate Emergency Training is the perfect first step to learning about and committing to positive climate action, and we remain determined to support the people of Scotland as we navigate through the climate emergency."

Becky Kenton-Lake, Coalition Manager, Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, said: "With climate issues increasingly being used as a political football and government's weakening commitments, Climate Outreach's updated research could not come at a more important time.

"It is a hugely valuable resource for anyone working on climate communications and campaigns, and clearly shows that there is support for climate action across all parts of society. The new, tailored Scottish audience research will greatly help us to better deliver more impactful, engaging campaigns and drive the action we so urgently need."

Rachael Orr, CEO at Climate Outreach, said: "British people are concerned about climate change - and that concern isn’t going anywhere. Doing the right thing by climate and nature is now something most people want to see as a matter of course.

“What jumps out of this new research is how much appetite there is for stronger political leadership - and better communication. People tell us that investment in tackling climate change makes them feel positive. Political parties should take note that being bold and ambitious on climate and nature offers the possibility for people to feel hopeful about the future.

"They want politicians from different parties to work together because they feel climate change should sit above short-term politics. Very understandably, people don’t want to be left alone to face and tackle climate change.

"They want to feel part of a wider change and they need proper financial support to transition to net zero, especially for those on the lowest incomes. They want to hear far more about how we are going to address climate change and they want to talk much more about this - especially face to face and in their local areas.”

The full study and more information on what people in Scotland think about the climate emergency can be found here.

We offer individual, introductory and sector specific Climate Emergency Training to help people in Scotland take positive action. Find out more here.