Recent polling by YouGov for the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) found that 94% of MPs support the 2050 net-zero target, which is up from 76% in April before this year's general election.
Among Conservative MPs, support for net zero has risen from 70% to 81%, while 78% of all MPs now view renewable energy and clean technology as the best opportunity for growth, up from 43%.
Indeed, 79% have a favourable view of onshore wind, compared to 56% before the election, and 60% believe the people that voted for them support onshore wind, compared to 35% in the last parliament.
“Many MPs seem to recognise that countries need to hit net-zero emissions if we’re to stop climate change worsening, they get that basic scientific fact,” said Alasdair Johnstone, ECIU's head of parliamentary engagement.
“They may also have seen the public polling showing swing voters at the last election were a shade greener than average and witnessed Rishi Sunak’s going ‘soft’ on net zero delivering zero election dividend.”
However, on electric vehicles (EVs), 42% of MPs believe that total ownership costs are higher than that of a petrol cars, despite evidence to the contrary.
Furthermore, 39% think that the UK's grid will not be able to cope with demand created by the shift to EVs, even though the National Grid has explicitly labelled this a “myth”.
And although just 16% of MPs believe EVs are more likely to catch fire than petrol cars, that proportion is much higher among Conservatives, on 44%.
Evidence from EV Fire Safe indicates that EVs are more than 80 times less likely to catch fire than petrol or diesel cars.
The polling also found that 27% of all MPs believe that “hydrogen can play a significant role in heating homes in the future”, despite many experts concluding that hydrogen is not the solution.
“Experts see only a niche role for hydrogen heating given its inherent inefficiency and cost despite protestations from industry interests,” Johnstone continued.
“On the other hand, heat pumps running on British renewable energy can deliver energy security by reducing the need for imports.
“The public now expect delivery, and this is where it’s important MPs have their facts right.”
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Chris Seekings is the Deputy Editor of IEMA’s Transform magazine, which is published biomonthly for IEMA members. Chris’s role involves writing sustainability-related news, features and interviews, as well as helping to plan and manage the magazine’s other day-to-day activities.