Why we're no longer so keen on being green: Number of people willing to change the way they live falls by 10%



Public concern about climate change is on the wane.



The number of people willing to alter the way they live in the hope of making a difference to global warming fell by around 10 per cent last year.



There was also a sharp drop in those who regarded themselves as ‘fairly concerned’ about climate change.



Green living: The number of people willing to alter the way they live in the hope of making a difference to global warming fell by around 10 per cent last year The figures, released by the Government yesterday, suggest that doubts about global warming have been growing since the summer of 2009. RELATED ARTICLES Previous

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This was before the damage inflicted on the cause by the ‘Climategate’ scandal later that year, in which leading scientists were accused of manipulating data to support the case of man-made climate change.



The credibility of global warming and concern about halting it appears to have been affected by the succession of three cold winters between 2008 and 2010.



Public transport: Fewer people said they were willing to use public transport or reduce how often they used their car, and only one in five said they would cut back on air travel

More recently, doubts about the efficiency of wind turbines and the high costs of the Coalition’s drive for renewable energy have seen enthusiasm for the cause dwindling.



Fewer than two thirds now say they are at least ‘fairly concerned’ about climate change or that they are prepared to do something about it, figures published by the Department for Transport said.



Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said: 'It shows what life could be like if we stopped our preparations now, and the consequences such a decision would mean for our economic stability'

According to the research, carried out by the Office for National Statistics, the share of the population who were at least fairly convinced that climate change was happening has dropped from 86 per cent in 2006 to 76 per cent last summer.



Over the same period, those who felt fairly concerned fell from 81 per cent to 65 per cent, and numbers willing to change their behaviour went down from 77 per cent to 65 per cent.



Fewer people said they were willing to use public transport or reduce how often they used their car, and only one in five said they would cut back on air travel. Most opposed higher taxes on air travel and petrol.



The findings came as the Government published a risk assessment warning of thousands of deaths because of climate change in coming decades. The report from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said Britain risks ‘sleepwalking into disaster’.



Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said: ‘It shows what life could be like if we stopped our preparations now, and the consequences such a decision would mean for our economic stability.’

