Forty-five per cent want action now 'whatever the cost', as survey reveals a nine-point rise in the strongest response since 2012

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Australians’ concern about climate change and a desire for the government to take action is on the rise, according to a national poll released on Wednesday.

In a second consecutive annual increase, the number of Australians seriously concerned about climate change rose five percentage points to 45%, according to the 10th annual Lowy Institute poll.

Those respondents also believed Australia “should begin taking steps now even if this involves significant costs”.

Despite the federal government’s winding back of climate change initiatives, agencies and advisory bodies, Australians are more concerned about global warming than in recent years.

Successive polls from 2006 to 2012 revealed a declining concern about climate change. But the past two years have seen an increase of nine points in concerned adults. The rate was higher among young people aged 18-29 (51%), and with people who have a year 12 or tertiary education (50%).

“Only 15% take the most sceptical view that ‘until we are sure that global warming is really a problem, we should not take any steps that would have economic costs’,” said the report.

Just 7% of Australian adults say the government should take no action to reduce carbon emissions.

The author of the poll, Alex Oliver, told Guardian Australia the five-point bump to the “serious and pressing problem” response is a really significant measure.

“Between 2006 and 2012 the number of people who picked the strongest response – the most activist response – on the climate change issue, that fell year on year to a pretty low point,” she said.

“The weather may have been a factor, and by 2009 with the drought broken and the then prime minister Rudd deferring and then dropping the emissions trading scheme in 2010. Then the Gillard government scrapping it and then announcing it in 2011, all of those may have been playing into that decline, combined with a sense of easing of the weather and easing of the drought.”

Oliver said the changing weather, including a string of record-breaking months, seasons and years across the country, may also have played into the trend reversal.

“Otherwise maybe the change of government and some sort of awareness that this current government’s policy is a particular sort of policy setting when dealing with climate change,” she added.

Some 63% of those questioned in the poll said the Abbott government should be taking a leadership role on reducing carbon emissions. Only 28% believe the government should wait for an international consensus.

On Tuesday, climate change experts said tough environmental rules for US power plants, announced by the Barack Obama, confirm Australia’s own plans to combat climate change are inadequate. Obama announced a 2020 target of reducing carbon emissions from power plants by 30% compared with 2005 levels.

The Abbott government intends to abolish the Labor-instigated carbon tax and introduce a target of 5% reduction in emissions by 2020. This is at odds with a pre-election commitment to conditionally increase the target to 25%. The recommendation to increase Australia’s target came from the Climate Change Authority, a body Abbott is hoping to scrap.

In response to the report, the environment minister, Greg Hunt, said in February the 5% target would be met under the government’s Direct Action plan and “any additional targets will be reviewed in 2015 in the lead-up to the Paris conference, as has been our longstanding position”.

