The speakers will share insights from a UK-wide Net Zero public opinion survey undertaken in Summer 2024 with almost 3000 people (including 407 people in Wales). The research explores a range of issues, including: support for Net Zero targets and views about the likelihood of achieving these, as well as opinions on fairness, bias and public and stakeholder involvement in policy. This presentation will focus on the Welsh responses and how these compare to other parts of the UK. For example, Welsh respondents were somewhat more likely to be very or extremely worried about the climate than those in England and Northern Ireland, but similar to those from Scotland. The speakers will explore and discuss these survey results in the context of the findings of the recent ACCESS Net Zero Taskforce.
Advancing Capacity for Climate and Environmental Social Science (ACCESS) is a five-year (2022-2027) climate and environment social science project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The ACCESS team includes world-leading social science and interdisciplinary experts led by the Universities of Exeter and Surrey.
About the Speakers
Patrick Devine Wright is a Professor in Human Geography at the University of Exeter and the Director of ACCESS. He is an environmental social scientist with a primary interest in the social acceptance of energy transitions, community engagement and place attachment. With expertise spanning human geography and environmental psychology, he was cited in the top 1% of social science scholars globally by Web of Science in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. Patrick was an IPCC Lead Author on social aspects of climate mitigation in AR6 and sit on the Devon Climate Task Force.
Dr Alice Moseley is a Senior Lecturer in Politics and the University of Exeter and a co-investigator for ACCESS. She has over 20 years experience as a public policy researcher and 10 years of experience in HE teaching. Her main areas of research interest and expertise are in public participation, collaborative governance, environmental policy, behavioural public policy and administration, and policy and service evaluation. She uses mixed research methods, including experimental and survey methods, interviews, focus groups, literature reviewing and evidence synthesis. Recent projects have focused on deliberative engagement with the farming community in Net Zero transitions, climate focused citizen’s assemblies, and public and stakeholder engagement with biodiversity renewal. Much of her work is impact focused and co-designed.
Dr Jenny Hatchard is a Research and Impact Fellow at the University of Exeter and an ACCESS Fellow. She is a social scientist specialising in working on interdisciplinary projects tackling real-world challenges. Her research to date has spanned marine ocean governance (fisheries, fishing communities, ecosystem-based management) and public health policy (tobacco control, corporate influence on science and policy, evidence-based policy-making, taxes for public health). Her research leans towards qualitative methods, but she has also undertaken systematic reviews and mixed methods research. She is experienced in workshop and focus group facilitation and enjoys understanding the world from others’ points of view. She has strong expertise in impact and knowledge exchange.
