Cost of living crisis drives slump in support for urgent climate action

Fewer than half of Australians consider climate change to be an urgent problem that requires immediate action even if it comes at a cost, as economic pressures dominate voters’ concerns, adding to the federal government’s challenge in pursuing its emissions reduction agenda.

Exclusive findings from the Resolve Political Monitor, conducted for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, show that just 12 per cent of voters nominated the environment and climate as their top priority, on par with health and aged care, while 48 per cent said keeping cost of living low was their primary concern.

There are political challenges to Energy Minister Chris Bowen’s goal of driving down emissions in line with the federal government’s 2030 target.Credit: Nine

The results show a tapering in support for strong climate action over the past two years, revealing that 45 per cent of voters agreed with the statement that climate change is a “serious and urgent problem” with action needed “even if that involves significant costs and sacrifices”.

This marks a decline from a majority position of 51 per cent under the former Coalition government.

Twenty-nine per cent said the problem should be tackled by “taking small steps over time”, while 16 per cent support a climate-sceptic approach that would see no significant costs incurred “until we are sure that climate change is a real problem”, and 10 per cent were undecided.

The slump in sentiment comes despite urgent warnings from climate experts for faster emissions reduction, including by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which declared in March that “window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future” is “rapidly closing.”

July was the hottest month ever recorded, with searing heatwaves across Asia, Europe and North America. Scientists are sounding the alarm about the onset of an El Nino event for the Australian summer which will increase the risk of heat waves and severe bushfires.

But mounting pressures on household budgets driven by high inflation and rising power bills appear to be outstripping environmental concerns in voters’ minds.

When voters were asked to rate issues in terms of their importance, 91 per cent rated the cost of living as an important issue compared with 66 per cent who nominated climate concerns.

This adds to the challenge confronting Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen in making the case for further investment in emissions reduction policies, as the federal government comes under almost daily pressure from the opposition over its election promise to cut power bills by $275 by 2025.

Instead, power prices have soared due to a global energy crunch caused by Russia’s war on Ukraine, while a range of experts have warned that the renewable energy rollout is currently too slow to achieve the government’s climate targets.

The survey of 1603 voters was conducted from August 9 to 13, with a 2.4 per cent margin of error.

Resolve director Jim Reed said the erosion in public urgency around climate action reflected the fraught economic environment faced by many voters. He said it potentially signalled creeping apathy after the election due to the decline in highly polarised energy politics that dominated the Coalition era.

“In this period of inflation people are more than willing to accept free, easy and effective measures, but if there’s a cost attached or they are unproven there’s now more pushback,” Reed said. “Even where there’s a long-term saving, like [with] solar, batteries and EVs, the upfront investment is becoming more of a barrier to going green.

“We cannot ignore that some voters will feel more relaxed now that we have emissions targets and other renewables policies in place. What was a big debate around the Glasgow COP [Conference of the Parties] a couple of years ago has ebbed away since Labor took power because people think it’s being dealt with.”

While a majority of voters (59 per cent) backed the government’s legally binding target to reduce emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, there was a backslide in support for a range of potential policies that could help slash the country’s emissions compared with results from a similar survey two years ago.

For example, support for banning the installation of gas boilers in new homes declined from 38 per cent in October 2021 to 33 per cent.

Government subsidies for new electric vehicles dropped five percentage points to 56 per cent, while the Greens’ proposal to ban all coal mining and exports by 2030 was backed by just 29 per cent of voters – down from 37 per cent two years ago.

However, support for nuclear power to become part of Australia’s energy mix remained steady at 40 per cent, while a further 33 per cent were undecided, and just 27 per cent were opposed, suggesting the issue is likely to remain a key flashpoint in the energy debate.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has made nuclear power a central part of the Coalition’s platform, and used a speech last month to suggest that Australia’s energy demands could be met cost-effectively by building small nuclear reactors on the site of ageing coal-fired power stations.

Bowen has repeatedly ridiculed the Coalition’s support for nuclear power, arguing it is expensive, and too slow to build to replace Australia’s ageing coal-fired power plants.

In a major speech last month, Bowen accused Dutton of presiding over a “cabal of climate denial that runs policy in the federal opposition”.

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