The Political Space for George Osborne to act on climate change

Based on our Environmental Choices public opinion data, this article describes the 'political space' that British politicians have to act on specific types of climate change policy. This document is part of a series - we will shortly be releasing equivalent discussions for Canada and the USA

The imminent climate change meeting at Copenhagen (COP15) is providing an extra incentive for political parties to clarify where they stand on climate change, and what policies they support.

Policy-makers believe that a significant price on carbon is an essential instrument for effective action on climate change. But what proportion of English people would support the higher fuel bills, and higher petrol prices, that would follow from implementing policies (such as cap-and-trade or carbon taxes) which put a significant price on carbon?

In this article we would like to consider the policy choices facing one particular politician - George Osborne, the UK shadow chancellor. We made this choice since there is a realistic chance George Osborne will be in the next government, and he has just made a speech on Conservative climate change policy. On November 24, 2009, George Osborne described the Conservatives plan to 'Green the Economy' should they win the next election. As reported in the press, the focus on their plans is stimulating green innovation with little mention of regulation or green taxes. Yet, what would be the pubic opinion implications of implementing all these policy issues?

You can download the full press release in the PDF attachment at the bottom of this page.

Data for this press release comes from Environmental Choices Wave 1, Section report 2.b, Government Mandates for action. A free summary of the report is available via this link. For more details about the full report, and to purchase, please use this link.

PRESS COMMENT

December 3, 2009 - Carbon Commentary - How green can the UK Conservatives actually afford to be?