Climate change and energy

The majority of Australians continue to express concern about climate change in 2022. Six in ten Australians (60%) say ‘global warming is a serious and pressing problem’ about which ‘we should begin taking steps now even if this involves significant costs’. This is unchanged from 2021, and remains eight points below the highest level of concern expressed in 2006 (68%). Three in ten Australians (29%) say the ‘problem of global warming should be addressed, but its effects will be gradual, so we can deal with the problem gradually by taking steps that are low in cost’, while 10% say that ‘until we are sure that global warming is really a problem, we should not take any steps that would have economic costs’.

The number of Australians (62%) who say climate change poses a critical threat to Australia’s vital interests in the next ten years has also remained stable since 2021. Three-quarters of Australians (75%) support providing aid to Pacific Island states to take action on climate change. Looking at a range of possible federal government policies, nine in ten Australians (90%) say they would support the federal government ‘providing subsidies for the development of renewable energy technology’, which is unchanged from 2021.

Eight in ten Australians (77%) support Australia ‘committing to a more ambitious emissions target for 2030’. Three-quarters (75%) say they also support Australia hosting a United Nations Climate Conference. The Labor government said during the election campaign that it would bid to host a COP in partnership with other Pacific nations if it formed government.

A sizeable majority of Australians (64%) support introducing an emissions trading scheme or a carbon tax. These views have shifted significantly in the past six years. In response to a different question in 2016, only 40% said they would prefer the government to introduce an emissions trading scheme or price on carbon. In recent years, Australian views of coal exports and coal mines have shifted. Six in ten Australians (65%) say they would support reducing Australian coal exports to other countries. In 2016, a majority (66%) said Australia should continue to export coal, in response to a different question. Six in ten Australians (63%) support introducing a ban on new coal mines opening in Australia, unchanged from 2021. Urban residents are more likely to support a ban on new coal mines, with 66% of Australians in urban areas supporting such a ban, compared to 57% of Australians living in regional and rural areas. In 2022, a third of Australians (33%) say they support the federal government providing subsidies for building new coal-fired power plants.

On a number of these policies, there is a large gap between support from younger and older Australians. For example, 70% of Australians aged 18–44 support banning new coal mines, compared to 57% of Australians aged over 45. Similarly, 71% of respondents aged 18–44 support imposing a carbon tax or emissions trading scheme, compared to 57% of Australians aged over 45. The majority of Australians (59%) continue to be in favour of ‘increasing the use of gas for Australia’s energy generation’. Australians are split over the question of nuclear power, which has been prohibited in Australia since 1998. A slim majority (52%) would support removing the existing ban on nuclear power, a five-point increase from 2021. Almost half (45%) would oppose this decision, which represents a six-point decline in the past year.