Essay by Eric Worrall
University of East Anglia academics: “We surveyed British MPs – most don’t know how urgent climate action is”
We surveyed British MPs – most don’t know how urgent climate action is
Published: October 7, 2025 12.02am AEDT
John Kenny Research Fellow (Public Engagement with Climate Change), School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia
Lucas Geese Research Fellow, Tyndall Centre and School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia
To keep global warming below 1.5°C, greenhouse gas emissions had to peak no later than 2025. That was a key finding of the IPCC’s most recent major report on the topic, published a few years ago. Yet when we surveyed UK MPs and members of the public in four countries, fewer than 15% could identify this deadline correctly.
This matters. If politicians and voters underestimate how urgently we have to fight climate change, they are less likely to back the tough policies needed. Instead, they risk assuming we have more time, all while climate change targets slip further out of reach.
…
To close the gap between science and politics, communications must be sharper. Reports need to highlight timelines and consequences in ways that are impossible to ignore. Politicians and the public need to understand not just the scale of the climate crisis, but how immediate it is.
Read more: https://theconversation.com/we-surveyed-british-mps-most-dont-know-how-urgent-climate-action-is-266703
The cited study;
- Article
- Open access
- Published: 02 October 2025
Publics and UK parliamentarians underestimate the urgency of peaking global greenhouse gas emissions
Abstract
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment reports treat politicians as recipients of information, but not as foci of research efforts. Moreover, academic research on politicians’ knowledge concentrates on belief in climate change’s anthropogenic cause. Little is known of how aware national parliamentarians are of key findings and policy recommendations from assessment reports. Here, we address this through a survey of 100 Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom on their knowledge of the well-publicised statement from the 6th assessment report of when global greenhouse emissions need to peak for a global temperature increase limit of 1.5 °C to be possible. Parliamentarians overwhelmingly overestimate the time period humanity has left to bend the temperature curve although partisan differences apply. Public surveys in Britain as well as Canada, Chile and Germany show similarly low knowledge, yet being younger, worried about climate change, and having lower levels of conspiracy belief mentality increase accuracy significantly.
…
Read more: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02655-w
This is hilarious. I thought academics had already fully accepted their 1.5C global warming CO2 budget is dead as a dodo. Then along comes University of East Anglia, like they are caught in a 1990s timewarp, digging up yesterday’s embarrassingly unachievable CO2 emissions targets which most people have had the sense to quietly forget.
As for expecting politicians to understand climate claims, good luck with that.
A decade ago Martin Durkin made a documentary, “Britain’s Trillion Pound Horror Story”. Among other things, Durkin asked a bunch of politicians questions about Britain’s finances.
The few politicians who had any idea about the numbers mostly confused the deficit and the debt – they thought Britain’s annual public deficit was actually the total national debt.
If British politicians can’t get fundamental information about the financial state of the nation right, information which actually matters, they are hardly going to pay close attention to the latest revised alarmist claims from the IPCC.
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Many non-far-left politicians are waking up to the fact that the whole “Climate Change™” meme is total nonsense.
There is no “urgency” because nothing much is happening…
… and “Climate Action™” would make zero difference anyway.
ALL “climate action” attempted for the last 40 years has resulted in absolutely nothing happening in regards to reducing atmospheric CO2.
Just think of all the resources wasted for no result. Frédéric Bastiat already described in his 1850 essay “That Which Is Seen, and That Which Is Not Seen” to illustrate why destruction, and the money spent to recover from destruction, is not actually a net benefit to society.
It’s not as if its a secret.
What to expect from useless bubbleheads?
Parliament, the most expensive social daycare centre imaginable…and the most harmful as well.
Love it 😂 they would qualify for special needs transportation
“and also the most harmful as well, too.”
I added some extra redundancy for you.
Academics don’t lose their jobs straight away if the lights go out and only the impotent are pure-
Callide Power Station’s life extended as Qld government delays move away from coal
Lets wait until the plan officially comes out…
The UK is ruled by a confederacy of dunces.
It’s very embarrassing being British these days.
Do you really think its better anywhere else?
Good point, but there’s some hope here in the US.
Not much… Expanding on a quote from Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana: ‘If he (referring to half the congress and senate) were my daddy I’d have to take his keys away.’
It is better in any country that is ruled by a leader who is categorized by the western MSM between populist & Hitler.
Even Russia, whose economy(just as climate) is “officialy” broken since 2022
and who has been sanctioned 19 times
is perfoming fine (just as the climate)
with an annual growth rate of 4%.
Russia doing fine? Not really. It’s growth is more like 1% but most of that is producing weapons that will soon be destroyed in Ukraine. It’s oil industry is collapsing. It’s got a huge demographic problem. Etc., etc. (it should be extremely fearful of China)
cope harder
for Russia, the situation is copeless 🙂
Singapore
I don’t think it was good enough to win a Pulitzer.
The IPCC would have more credibility if it considered both the Pros and Cons of anthropogenic CO2 but at the moment their disaster bias lights up like a huge neon sign.
…… or like a huge red inflamed cyst.
The IPCC must promote the claims that CO2 emissions causes global warming and are the control knob of climate change. If the IPCC was to conclude that CO2 has no effect on the earth’s weather and climate, about 400 worker’s in Bern, Switzerland living off the global warming gravy train would be out of work.
We don’t need the IPCC, the UNFCCC, and UN COP. These organization should be disbanded.
Yes. When your reason for existence depends on catastrophe, well then…
Quote of the day – BBC R4
I’m looking forward to the time when dumping your Carbon dioxide is as unacceptable as dumping sewage – Lord Adair Turner
So is he going to do the right thing … & stop breathing ???
We live in hope…
He exhales about 1 kilogram of hot CO2 everyday!
…or, in his own words, “He exhales about 1 kilogram of sewage every day”. Makes him full of sh*t, no?
Now there’s a guy who should lose his lordship.
cope harder
Story tip
We surveyed British MPs – most don’t know how urgent climate action is – The Conversation
I would never give “The Monologue” a click to look at it.
“This matters. If politicians and voters underestimate how urgently we have to fight climate change, they are less likely to back the tough policies needed.”
Perhaps the UK MPs are well aware that whatever the UK does makes not even a smidgeon of difference to the size of global emissions. Perhaps UK MPs are well aware that China and India are continuining to belch out vast amounts of emissions and that there’s absolutely no way that global emissions are going to stabilise, never mind going down.
Breaking news: The sky is falling, yet many duncementarians aren’t aware of how imminent the danger is. Fortunately, Chicken Little is on the case. Film at 11.
How did the once brilliant UK academic world get so dumb?
I once asked Lord Monckton this question. His answer was they stopped trying to provide everyone with a classical education, which led to the production of large numbers of adults who have no idea about science and mathematics, ready made victims for whichever charlatan presents the most sincere sounding lie.
Makes sense that a classical education is better training for serious multi disciplinary thought. That as a foundation topped off by science and math.
University, I expect.
Here’s one of the biggest Australian politicians’ white elephants in the news again-
Ord Valley’s northern food bowl ‘pipe dream’ struggles amid changing climate
Massive amounts of water (Lake Argyle) to pour on any amount of arable land and they can’t make it pay due to its remoteness and logistics not to mention insects and bird life will eat anything reasonably tasty. Last time I was there indigenous Sandalwood for Asian josh sticks was the latest in thing until that went belly up too but now of course the ubiquitous climate change gets the inevitable mention. Climate change can excuse anything and everything for nincompoops including Snowy2.
“To close the gap between science and politics, communications must be sharper.”
In other words, in order to completely eradicate healthy skepticism, the basis of science, we must double down on political propaganda. The gap between science and politics is honesty.
The “must be sharper” phrase made me laugh. Recall the tourist speaking louder (sharper) when realizing the local didn’t understand the visitor’s language.
I thought we hit 1.5C over a year ago. At least that’s what the propaganda at the times was claiming.
Add to the fact that they claim temperature lags CO2 and the conclusion is, by their logic, we should have hit peak fossil fuel 5 to 10 years ago.
They can’t keep their lies and propaganda straight.
Is this the same University of East Anglia with the famous
School of IdiotingCRU, where the graduation ceremony consists of a diploma ofIdiotingClimate Change, a handful of mud, and a kick in the head?What happens to someone looking for a job based on their Climate Change degree in 10 years?
Except for the tie, the guy leaning out of the booth looks like Bill Nye (and just as clueless).
A massive prize has been on offer for many years now to show how de-carbonisation will improve the climate. It has not been claimed because climate change is not affected by anything man does or has done. If politicians and lefty woke power grabbers would accept the truth or at least a frank discussiomn of the issues we might get somewhere , but unfortunately salaries depend on telling lies..
“…all while climate change targets slip further out of reach….” But not as far out of reach as the catastrophic damage claims that never come true.
It’s not that they don’t know; it’s that they’ve come to realize the supposed “climate crisis” is just another name for environmental alarmism; and if they keep pushing this phony agenda by advocating higher taxes and green product mandates, they’ll find themselves voted out of office.
Very nice Eric. And people wonder why academics have lost much respect and admiration. This is the best they can do these days. Try to scare the crap out of people with doom and gloom proclamations with nothing more than lies and deception. These guys can go to hell.
“fewer than 15% could identify this deadline correctly“
That was the original reason many people in my generation went into real science – other less scientific fields involved people who wanted to judge other humans as “correct” or “incorrect” based on which opinions they advocated.