8 Conclusions
8.1 Over the last few years the environment has re-emerged as a key issue on the Scottish political agenda, with the focus of debate on climate change shifting from whether the problem is actually happening to how it can best be addressed. In December 2008, the Scottish Government published the Climate Change (Scotland) Bill 49. This includes a statutory target to reduce emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. While the need for action in relation to climate change is commonly recognised, there has been a paucity of information in Scotland to examine people's attitudes and behaviours in relation to this and other environmental issues. It is within this context that the Scottish Government Rural and Environment Analytical Services ( REAS) Division, on behalf of the Greener Scotland Directorate and Climate Change Division, commissioned the Scottish Environmental Attitudes and Behaviours Survey ( SEABS '08).
8.2 The overarching aim of the Scottish Environmental Attitudes and Behaviours Survey 2008 ( SEABS'08) was to provide up-to-date, robust and targeted data about environmental attitudes and behaviour, which would allow intelligent analyses and policy responses as to whether, and how, government can bring about changes in behaviour, and so that the effects of government initiatives can be assessed and kept under review. The SEABS'08 serves the Scottish Government's 'Greener' and 'Wealthier and Fairer' strategic objectives.
8.3 In some respects, the findings provide grounds for optimism. Even though the fieldwork took place during a period when much media output was focused on the economy and the 'credit crunch', a considerable proportion of people mentioned the environment as an important issue globally. Perhaps, more importantly, most people recognised climate change as a problem, with a majority accepting the need for immediate and urgent action. Only a small minority of people did not accept the need for action. There also appears to be a committed minority of the public who are actively trying to persuade others to lead more environmentally friendly lifestyles.
8.4 Further, there are some signs that people are starting to change their behaviour and are taking action for the sake of the environment, with the majority of respondents saying that people they know are doing more to help the environment "these days". Recycling, in particular, appears to be commonplace, with a relatively high proportion of people reporting that they recycle various types of household waste. Where kerbside facilities are present, most people recycle. Although recycling is less common where kerbside facilities are not present, the majority of people still report that they recycle some household waste, some of the time. Similarly, a considerable proportion of people are reusing items such as shopping bags and plastic drinks bottles at least some of the time, and taking measures to save energy in the home such as using energy saving light bulbs.
8.5 In addition, there is evidence of changes in attitudes being reflected in changes in behaviour, with those who are attitudinally the most engaged being the most likely to make green lifestyle choices. In levels of recycling, for example, where kerbside facilities are not available, those who are most environmentally engaged are more likely to recycle often. They are also more likely to cycle, use buses, reuse household items (shopping bags, plastic food containers, wrapping paper, gift bags plastic bottles and batteries), buy groceries in shops other than supermarkets, buy some eco-friendly and fair-trade products, and take energy saving measures in the home (using energy saving light bulbs, hanging up washing to dry rather than using a tumble dryer and turning off the tap when cleaning their teeth). This suggests that if government can change attitudes to the environment, it may also have some success in affecting behavioural change.
8.6 Notwithstanding these positive findings, the survey also highlights significant challenges. Although people do consider the environment to be a salient issue globally, only a small proportion of people mentioned it as an important issue in Scotland. Similarly, over a third of people said that the environment was a low priority compared with other aspects in their life.
8.7 Reflecting these views, levels of participation in many forms of pro-environmental behaviour remain low: 44% of those who live a mile from work and have a car still choose to drive there; two thirds of people drive most days; almost half of people have flown for leisure in the last year; a third of people could not say how much they spend on gas or electricity at home; around half of respondents do not reuse shopping bags every time possible; the majority of those who had bought a washing machine or a fridge freezer in the last two years did not know its energy rating; only 1% use energy from micro-generation; and almost half of people never use eco-friendly cleaning products.
8.8 It is particularly notable that when respondents were asked what actions would most help to reduce climate change, recycling was mentioned more than any other action. It appears that people tended to mention relatively 'easy' actions as opposed to actions which demand more of a sacrifice on the part of the public. In short, while people are generally aware of, and profess to being concerned about climate change, it seems they may be more reluctant to adopt behaviours that require a significant change to their lifestyles. With regard to recycling - even though this is considered the action that would do most to reduce climate change - where kerbside recycling facilities are available to help minimise the effort required, still over a third of people do not always recycle their bottles.
8.9 Not making fundamental changes to behaviour is understandable. One of the key difficulties of promoting green behaviours is that the benefits are not necessarily obvious or immediate - one person's actions will not be significant enough to make any perceptible difference to climate change. At the same time, the effort and cost of green behaviours are by no means negligible, and environmental considerations have to be weighed against competing demands. That respondents in the survey consistently identified cost and convenience as among the main considerations influencing their choice of behaviour illustrates the scale of the challenge in this respect.
8.10 As actions that require the least effort, cost, or thought tend to be the most common, it might be expected that actions that require a greater trade-off would only be undertaken by the most environmentally engaged. However, the survey found that while the most engaged take some action for the sake of the environment, they were no less likely to fly for leisure purposes, drive to work and drive to do the main grocery shopping. In other words, even those groups among whom recognition of the problem and the need for change is greatest, change in behaviour is limited: they may want to avert climate change and play their part, but at the same time they still want to fly to holiday destinations and drive to work.
8.11 While challenges ahead are undeniable, the survey results also provide an indication of ways in which environmental behaviour could be encouraged in the future. First, and as already noted, there are signs that environmental attitudes lead behaviour. As such, encouraging environmental engagement may go some way to promoting greener lifestyles. Conversely, the fact that environmental engagement was not significant in influencing other behaviours, such as driving to work, suggests that communications relating to these behaviours may be most effective if they focus, not on the need to protect the environment, but on other benefits such as the importance of a healthy lifestyle.
8.12 Second, the two greatest barriers to change, effort and cost, may also provide opportunities to shape the architecture of people's choices and therefore their behaviour. Not only may there be scope to make some environmentally friendly behaviour easier to adopt, there may also be areas where non-environmentally friendly options can be made more difficult. Similarly and where appropriate, highlighting potential cost-savings to be made from green behaviours (such as using energy saving light bulbs) may provide an effective means by which to 'sell' those behaviours to the public, particularly those who are most economically disadvantaged.
8.13 It is clear that the vast majority of people think that it is important to have greenspaces - parks, gardens and the countryside - nearby. And importantly, the survey analysis shows that wellbeing is linked to visiting greenspaces. This evidence expands our understanding of how 'environmental behaviours' can also enhance wellbeing, while also reducing carbon. De-carbonised behaviours may even go some way in fostering more environmentally friendly attitudes and behaviours.
8.14 As people are, to some extent, sceptical about the influence that they, as individuals can have, the potential role of government in shaping opinions and behaviour should not be underplayed. While a number of policy options presented to the public - for example paying more for green energy - elicited a sizeable degree of opposition, it is important to consider that this opposition may not be particularly steadfast. Before the introduction of the smoking ban in Scotland it would have been hard to imagine a majority of people supporting this measure but survey research conducted since the ban indicates that in at least some parts of the country, support is now as high as 75% 50. It is not inconceivable that public opinion on policies aimed at promoting green behaviour may be similarly malleable.
8.15 The evidence in this survey shows that the Scottish public is beginning to engage with the environment issue, and to participate in relatively 'easy' green behaviours such as recycling and reusing. The challenge moving forward will be to increase levels of engagement further among all sections of the public and specifically to persuade people of the need to make more significant lifestyles changes if environmental problems are to be tackled.