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The politics of climate change in the UK

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  • Neil Carter

Abstract

Between 2006 and 2010 climate change rose rapidly up the UK political agenda and the Labour Government, with cross‐party support, introduced major changes in domestic climate and energy policy, including the landmark Climate Change Act 2008, which represented an important step toward the UK becoming a low carbon economy. Cross‐party consensus was initially sustained by the Conservative‐Liberal Democrat Coalition, before growing criticism from the political right began to turn climate change into an increasingly partisan issue, thereby weakening the commitment of David Cameron to climate leadership. The article examines the transition of climate change from low politics to high politics, assessing the role of public opinion, the media, business, environmental groups, and party competition in overcoming the obstacles to progressive climate change and energy policy. The roles of party politics and of individual political leadership are identified as critical factors in raising the profile of climate change and delivering radical policy change. The significance of the growing partisan divisions over climate change is assessed. This article is categorized under: The Carbon Economy and Climate Mitigation > Policies, Instruments, Lifestyles, Behavior Policy and Governance > National Climate Change Policy

Suggested Citation

  • Neil Carter, 2014. "The politics of climate change in the UK," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 5(3), pages 423-433, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:wirecc:v:5:y:2014:i:3:p:423-433
    DOI: 10.1002/wcc.274
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    Cited by:

    1. Gritsenko, Daria, 2024. "Advancing UN digital cooperation: Lessons from environmental policy and governance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    2. Gransaull, Gareth & Rhodes, Ekaterina & Fairbrother, Malcolm, 2023. "Institutions for effective climate policymaking: Lessons from the case of the United Kingdom," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    3. Amelia Sharman & Richard Perkins, 2017. "Post-decisional logics of inaction: The influence of knowledge controversy in climate policy decision-making," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(10), pages 2281-2299, October.
    4. Pitkänen, Atte & von Wright, Tuuli & Kaseva, Janne & Kahiluoto, Helena, 2022. "Distributional fairness of personal carbon trading," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    5. Hui-Zhen Fu & Ludo Waltman, 2022. "A large-scale bibliometric analysis of global climate change research between 2001 and 2018," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 170(3), pages 1-21, February.

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