Brits lose faith as political leaders fail to grasp the climate crisis–and the media lets them get away with it
Survey shows only 30% trust leaders’ climate decisions, with overwhelming majorities saying politicians have the wrong priorities and the media is failing in its watchdog duties
In yet another damning indictment of Britain’s political class, new figures from the Reuters Institute and Oxford University reveal a shocking collapse in public confidence over how our supposed “leaders” are handling the climate crisis.
Far from trusting Westminster to steer the country through one of the defining challenges of our time, the British public has delivered a withering verdict: they simply don’t believe a word of it.
Net zero confidence
Despite 89% of people wanting government to do more about climate change, only 30% feel confident that politicians have got their priorities right on climate change—a pitiful showing for a government that never tires of telling us how seriously it takes the issue.
And it doesn’t end there. Just 30% believe their leaders are making the right decisions to tackle the crisis, while a mere 33% think Britain is setting any kind of meaningful example to the rest of the world. In every case, those expressing outright mistrust massively outnumber those offering support.
This places Britain squarely in line with a grim international trend: across eight nations surveyed, only around a third of people have any confidence that their politicians know what they’re doing. Hardly surprising.
Yet—and here’s the bitter irony—the public still insists politicians shoulder the responsibility. A clear 61% of Britons say it is political leaders who bear the greatest duty to act on climate change. The expectations are high. The delivery? Nowhere to be seen.
Media under fire
And just when you think it couldn’t get any worse, the British media comes under blistering scrutiny for its role in this national trust breakdown. UK audiences, alongside those in France and the US, say the press is doing a decidedly poor job covering what politicians are actually doing on climate.
When asked whether the media is holding political leaders accountable for their climate policies, the UK’s verdict is a staggering -13 points net negative. Accuracy in reporting on political leaders’ actions? -9 points. Helping the public understand where different leaders stand? A dismal -6 points.
These aren’t marginal gripes—they’re a resounding condemnation of a media landscape that appears to have all but abandoned its duty to inform, investigate and challenge.
Worst of all, the UK registers the largest gap in the world between what the public expects from journalists and what they think the media delivers. The so-called Watchdog role—exposing environmental harm and holding power to account—is failing spectacularly, with a jaw-dropping -49 point performance gap.
In a country that prides itself on democratic accountability, both politicians and the media now stand accused of betraying the very public they claim to serve. The question is: how much longer will Britons tolerate it?