Official Statistics

DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker: Net Zero and climate change, Winter 2025, UK

Published 12 March 2026

The DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker is a nationally representative annual survey of adults (aged 16+) in the UK that tracks public awareness, attitudes and behaviours relating to the policies of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), such as energy and climate change.

This report provides a summary of the headline findings relating to Net Zero and climate change from the Winter 2025 wave of the Tracker, which ran from 4 November to 9 December 2025.

Notes for interpretation of findings

Differences between groups are only reported where they are statistically significant at the 95% confidence interval level.

The annual personal income referred to in the report is a self-reported measure.

Line charts included in this report, based on a longer time series, use abbreviated season names in the x-axis (e.g. Winter 2025 = Win 2025). 

The age-related findings are reported using six age groups (16-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65 and over). In some cases, findings across age groups have been combined to describe a general trend, for example, ‘between 78% and 88% of people aged 45 and above’ refers to the range of percentages for the three age groups 45-54, 55-64 and 65+.

Please note that some of the geographical findings have fluctuated over time. These variations may, in part, be due to the base sizes in specific areas and the wide geographic area covered by regions.

Two summary self-reported measures are used in this report:

• ‘Awareness’ encompasses all respondents who said they had heard of a particular concept or technology, including those who said they know ‘hardly anything but I’ve heard of this’, ‘a little’, ‘a fair amount’ or ‘a lot’.
• ‘Knowledge’ encompasses those who said that they know ‘a fair amount’ or ‘a lot’ about a topic.

Awareness of Net Zero

In June 2019, the government announced a target which will require the UK to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to Net Zero by 2050. Before asking about the level of awareness, respondents were provided with a brief description as follows: ‘The UK government is aiming to reduce UK greenhouse gas emissions to ‘Net Zero’ by 2050. This will involve significantly reducing emissions produced by our industries, transport, food, and homes. Any remaining emissions will be balanced by actions that reduce greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere, such as planting trees’.

Figure 1.1 displays the longer-term trends in overall awareness (had at least heard of it) and knowledge (a lot/fair amount) of Net Zero (line chart). It also displays the detailed awareness and knowledge data for the most recent two waves alongside the baseline (bar chart).

In Winter 2025, overall awareness of Net Zero remained stable at 90%, while overall knowledge decreased from 53% in Summer 2025 to 50% in Winter 2025.

Over the longer-term, awareness has remained broadly stable, at around nine in ten since Winter 2021. There has been slightly more fluctuation in levels of knowledge (between 46% and 53% over the period of tracking).

Figure 1.1: Awareness of the concept of ‘Net Zero’ (% based on all people), Autumn 2021 to Winter 2025

NZKNOW. The UK government is aiming to reduce UK greenhouse gas emissions to ‘Net Zero’ by 2050. This will involve significantly reducing emissions produced by our industries, transport, food, and homes. Any remaining emissions will be balanced by actions that reduce greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere, such as planting trees. Before today, how much, if anything, did you know about the concept of ‘Net Zero’?

Base: All wave respondents – Autumn 2021 (5,558), Winter 2021 (3,705), Spring 2022 (4,374), Summer 2022 (4,489), Autumn 2022 (4,158), Winter 2022 (3,572), Spring 2023 (4,405), Summer 2023 (3,998), Winter 2023 (3,741), Spring 2024 (4,085), Summer 2024 (3,640), Winter 2024 (3,214), Spring 2025 (3,411), Summer 2025 (3,526), Winter 2025 (3,282) (Asked each wave).

Note: On the line chart, arrows denote a significant difference between one wave and the next. For the bar chart, significant differences are noted between Autumn 2021 and Summer 2025, and between Summer 2025 and Winter 2025.

Analysis by subgroups

Self-reported knowledge of Net Zero (the percentage who said they knew a lot or a fair amount) followed a similar trend, and was higher among the following subgroups:

• People in age groups 55 and over: 55% in both age groups, compared with 39% of those aged 16 to 24.
• People with a degree: 68% compared with 45% of those with another kind of qualification and 28% of those with no qualifications.
• People living in the South West (59%), Scotland (58%), and the South East (55%); in contrast, the lowest levels were reported in the West Midlands (37%), the East Midlands (41%) and the North East (44%).

Concern about climate change

In Winter 2025, 77% said they were concerned overall about climate change, down slightly from 79% in Summer 2025 (Figure 1.2). A third said they were very concerned (33%), down from 37% in Summer 2025.

Over time, aside from some minor fluctuations, overall concern has steadily declined from 85% in Autumn 2021 to 77% in Winter 2025. The proportion who were very concerned has in general followed a similar pattern, falling from 44% to 33% over the period of tracking, with a sharper decrease since the most recent wave.

Figure 1.2: Concern about climate change (% based on all people), Autumn 2021 to Winter 2025

CLIMCONCERN. How concerned, if at all, are you about climate change, sometimes referred to as ‘global warming’?

Base: All wave respondents – Autumn 2021 (5,557), Winter 2021 (3,701), Spring 2022 (4,375), Summer 2022 (4,490), Autumn 2022 (4,158), Winter 2022 (3,571), Spring 2023 (4,405), Summer 2023 (3,998), Winter 2023 (3,739), Spring 2024 (4,086), Summer 2024 (3,644), Winter 2024 (3,213), Spring 2025 (3,408), Summer 2025 (3,531) Winter 2025 (3,281) (Asked each wave).

Note: On the line chart, arrows denote a significant difference between one wave and the next. For the bar chart, significant differences are noted between Autumn 2021 and Summer 2025, and between Summer 2025 and Winter 2025.

Analysis by subgroups^{[footnote 1]}

The proportion reporting that they were very concerned about climate change was higher among the following subgroups:

• People with a degree: 45% compared with those with another kind of qualification, and those with no qualifications (both 27%).
• People living in London (40%), the South West (37%) and the East of England and Northern Ireland (both 36%); in contrast people living in West Midlands and Scotland (both 24%) were least likely to be very concerned.

People were most likely to say that they were not very or not at all concerned about climate change in the North East and the West Midlands (both 27%) and in Scotland and Northern Ireland (both 25%); in contrast people in London (16%) were least likely to report a lack of concern.

Consistently over time, climate change concern has been higher for women than men. However, over time concern has fallen more for men than women leading to an increased gender gap. For example, when the time series started in Autumn 2021, 87% of women and 82% of men were concerned about climate change (a 5-percentage point difference), while in Winter 2025, 81% of women and 73% of men said they were concerned (an 8-percentage point difference); this is similar to the gender gap observed in the previous two waves.

Information on tackling climate change

Sources of information

In Winter 2025, based on a list presented to respondents^{[footnote 2]}, TV news (including associated websites) remained the most reported source of climate change information (54%), although this had decreased from 60% in Winter 2024 (Figure 1.3).

Around 30%-40% of people reported getting information on climate change from social media (41%), newspapers or their websites (36%), TV/radio documentaries and podcasts (34%, down from 39% in Winter 2024) and friends, family and work colleagues (32%).

Other sources were mentioned by at least two in ten included government websites (27%, down from 29% in Winter 2024), online searches (27%, down from 31%), and energy suppliers (22%).

Figure 1.3: Sources of information on actions people can take to tackle climate change (% based on all people), Winter 2023 to 2025

CCHEARD. Looking at the following sources, from which, if any, of these do you hear or read about actions you can take to tackle climate change? This might include making choices about travel, product purchases, or how to save energy at home. *change to social media examples in Winter 2024

Base: All wave respondents – Winter 2023 (3,732), Winter 2024 (3,214), Winter 2025 (3,277).

Analysis by subgroups

By age:

• Mainstream media sources such as TV, radio and newspapers were more likely to be chosen as a source of climate change information by older people compared with younger people. For example: between 38% and 44% of people aged 55 and over used newspapers or their websites, compared with between 28% and 31% of those in age groups from 16 to 34.
• Older people aged 65 or over were less likely than all other age groups to search online: (19% compared with between 27% and 33%) and to get information from friends and family (25% compared with between 31% and 37%).
• Younger people were much more likely than older people to get information from social media (from 69% of those aged 16 to 24, declining to 15% of those aged 65 and over).

By education:

• People with a degree were more likely than those without any qualifications to access information about climate change from all sources, except for TV news.
• This difference was particularly notable for searching online (35% of those with a degree vs 12% of those with no qualifications), government websites (35% vs 17%) and charities, environmental and campaign groups (29% vs 6%).

By self-reported knowledge about Net Zero:

• People who said they knew a lot or a fair amount about Net Zero were more likely than those who had no awareness to select all sources of information except for social media.
• This difference was most notable for charities, environmental or campaign groups (27% of those who knew at least a fair amount about Net Zero vs 6% of those unaware); searching online (35% vs 9%); newspapers (44% vs 16%); and TV and radio documentaries and podcasts (43% vs 18%).

Information needs

In Winter 2025, when presented with a list of topics relating to actions to tackle climate change, 67% of people said they would like more information on at least one of these topics, down slightly from 69% in Winter 2024. One in four (26%, no change) were not interested in finding out more information about any of these (Figure 1.4).

People remained most likely to want information on how to reduce energy consumption at home (47%), choosing products with less impact on the environment (37%, down from 43%), green financial products (24%, down from 27%), and low impact travel choices (14%, down from 16%).

Figure 1.4: Topics relating to actions to reduce climate change that people would like more information about (% based on all people), Winter 2023 to 2025

CCINFO. Which, if any, of the following would you like to have more information on? Please select any that apply.

Base: All wave respondents – Winter 2023 (3,724), Winter 2024 (3,208), Winter 2025 (3,274).

Analysis by subgroups

By age:

• Younger people aged 16 to 24 were more likely than older people to mention information needs on low impact travel choices (20% vs 12% of those aged 65 and over). Conversely, this age group was less likely to want information on how to reduce energy consumption at home (38%) compared with those in age groups 35 to 54 (between 52% and 53%).
• People in age groups 55-64 and 65 and over were more likely to not identify any information needs (both 31%) compared with those in age groups from 16 to 44 (between 19% and 24%).

By education:

• People with a degree were more likely than those with no qualifications to want to know more about all topics, except how to reduce energy consumption at home (no difference). For example, 33% of degree-educated people wanted more information on green financial products vs 16% with no qualifications.

By geography:

• People living in London were most likely to report interest in all topics, except for choosing careers that will help the environment.
• Interest in how to reduce energy consumption at home was reported most in both London (55%) and Northern Ireland (53%), compared with 47% overall.

By self-reported knowledge about Net Zero:

• Those who said they knew at least a fair amount about Net Zero were more likely than those saying they knew nothing at all to express interest in: choosing products with less impact on the environment (41% vs 18%), choosing green financial products (29% vs 15%), and low impact travel choices (15% vs 10%).

Attitudes to action on climate change

Responsibility for action

A new question was added in Winter 2025 to gauge people’s views on responsibility for climate action, and whether this should mostly lie with business, government or the public.

On balance, people thought that businesses and industry should have the most responsibility by doing more to reduce their impact (35%), with 31% feeling that responsibility lay mostly with government through introducing more policies to reduce carbon emissions (Figure 1.5).

Only 16% thought that the general public should have most responsibility through making lifestyle changes, while 7% did not believe that the UK should be helping to reduce climate change, and 8% were unable to choose an answer.

Figure 1.5: Who should have most responsibility for helping to reduce climate change in the UK (% based on all people), Winter 2025

CCRESPONSIBILITY. Which one of these do you think should have the MOST responsibility for helping to reduce climate change in the UK?

Base: All wave respondents – Winter 2025 (3,229).

Analysis by subgroups

A belief that government should have most responsibility for action on UK climate change was higher among the following subgroups:

• People in age groups 25 to 44 (between 36% and 39%) compared with those in age groups 55 and over (between 27% and 28%).
• People with a degree (37%) compared with those with another kind of qualification (30%) or no qualification (29%).

A belief that the UK should not be responsible for helping to reduce climate change at all was higher among people aged 65 and over (11%) compared with those in age groups 16 to 54 (between 5% and 6%).

Support for government action

In response to a further new question added in Winter 2025, 68% of people said that they supported (slightly or strongly) government action to reduce climate change in the UK, with 45% saying they supported this strongly (Figure 1.6). Overall, 12% said they opposed such action.

Figure 1.6: Whether support UK government taking action to reduce climate change in the UK (% based on all people), Winter 2025

SUPPORTACTION. To what extent do you support or oppose the UK government taking action to reduce climate change in the UK?

Base: All wave respondents – Winter 2025 (3,279).

Analysis by subgroups

Support (strong or slight) for UK government action to reduce UK climate change was higher among the following subgroups:

• People in age groups 25 to 54 (between 70% and 72%), compared with those aged 65 and over (64%).
• People with a degree (80%), compared with those with no qualifications (52%).
• People who say they knew at least a fair amount about Net Zero (73%) compared with those unaware of Net Zero (46%).

Climate change leadership

Overall, in Winter 2025, 39% of people agreed (strongly or slightly) that the UK is a global leader in tackling climate (Figure 1.7), while 20% disagreed. A substantial proportion did not provide an opinion either way (30%). Attitudes on this measure have not changed since Winter 2024.

When asked how important it is that the UK is a global leader in tackling climate change, 65% said that it was important (very or fairly), down from 69% in Winter 2024. This decline was driven by a decrease in the proportion saying this was very important (31%, down from 34%). Conversely, there was an increase in the proportion saying this was not very or not at all important (26%, up from 23%).

Figure 1.7: Attitudes towards the UK as a global leader on tackling climate change (% based on all people), Winter 2024 to 2025

ICFKNOW. How much do you agree or disagree that the UK is a global leader in tackling climate change?

ICFIMPORT. How important or unimportant do you feel it is that the UK is a global leader on tackling climate change?

Base: All wave respondents: Agreement/Importance – Winter 2024 (3,212/3,212), Winter 2025 (3,278/3,276).

Analysis by subgroups

Agreement (strong or slight) that the UK is a global leader in tackling climate change was higher among the following subgroups:

• People in age groups 45 and over: between 39% and 45% compared with 30% of those aged 16 to 24.
• People with a degree: 44% compared with 39% of those with another kind of qualification and 37% of those with no qualifications.
• Those living in the North East (46%) and London (44%); in contrast those living in Northern Ireland (33%) and the West Midlands (34%) were less likely to agree.

Perceived importance (very or fairly important) of the UK being a global leader in tackling climate change was higher among the following subgroups:

• Those with a degree: 71% compared with 56% of those with no qualifications.
• Those living in London (73%). In contrast those living in the West Midlands (54%) and the North East (58%) were less likely to think it was important.

Older people were more likely than younger people to think UK global leadership was not important (33% of those aged 65 and over declining to 16% of those aged 16 to 24).

Further findings on Net Zero and climate change

In previous waves, questions were included on other topics relating to Net Zero and climate change. The latest findings relating to these topics can be found as follows:

• Attitudes towards Net Zero, see Summer 2025 report on Net Zero and climate change - section on ‘Attitudes towards Net Zero’
• Attitudes towards climate change, see Summer 2025 report on Net Zero and climate change - section on ‘Attitudes towards climate change’
• Self-reported behaviours that could help to tackle climate change, see Summer 2025 report on Net Zero and climate change - section on ‘Behaviours to tackle climate change’
• Which behaviours are thought to have the biggest impact on tackling climate change, see Summer 2025 report on Net Zero and climate change - section on ‘Behaviours thought to have the biggest impact on tackling climate change’
• Level of trust in information sources on climate change, see Summer 2025 report on Net Zero and climate change - section on ‘Information on tackling climate change’

1. Age is not included in the subgroup analysis as no clear differences were reported. ↩

2. The list was slightly amended in Winter 2024, with the examples of social media given expanded to include YouTube. ↩