Politicians flying less or cutting out meat is ‘missing link’ in climate action

Exclusive: Study suggests people more willing to reduce own carbon footprint if they see leaders doing the same

Political leaders “walking the talk” on climate action by flying less or eating less meat could be a “crucial missing link” in fighting global heating, according to a study.

Researchers found that people are significantly more willing to reduce their own carbon footprint if they see leaders doing the same. The finding, by psychologists in the UK, was not a given, as green action by high-profile people can sometimes be dismissed as virtue-signalling.

The study also found that people were significantly less willing to change their behaviour when leaders do not lead by example. The former prime minister Rishi Sunak took 40 helicopter and small jet flights within the UK while in office, according to a freedom of information request by the Guardian.

The findings are significant because many experts argue that encouraging and enabling behaviour change by people is vital to tackling global heating. But there have been strikingly few examples of politicians leading by example.

Research for the UK Climate Change Committee estimates that 60% of the emissions cuts still required will involve behaviour change, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change increasingly recognises this need. To date, politicians have focused only on the systemic changes also needed, such as renewable energy rollouts and international agreements.

A second study suggests why politicians are reluctant to publicise their personal green actions. Even MPs who strongly back climate action are afraid of criticism, such as being labelled fanatics or hypocrites if other aspects of their lives remain high-carbon.

There is the possibility of a win-win situation, the first study suggests, as it shows that people’s overall approval of political leaders increases for those leading by example. The key, the researchers say, is for leaders to be consistent over time – avoiding green stunts – and to acknowledge that some changes may be too difficult or costly for everyone to make, such as using public transport, buying an electric car or installing a heat pump.

“[Leading by example] is a missing link because climate change is addressed politically in a technocratic, top-down way: new technology, changed systems of energy provision,” said Dr Steve Westlake, from Cardiff University, who led both studies. “These solutions avoid impact on people’s daily lives.”

“From now on, progress is really going to require people to change their behaviour and yet that has been avoided by politicians. We don’t like being told what to do,” he said. “But taking personal action can bridge that gap between the individual and the system. If we see leaders saying ‘here’s what I am doing’, it brings it back to daily life.” Westlake said there existed a stand-off, with politicians reluctant to ask people to change their behaviour and people reluctant to change without politicians showing the way.

Politicians failing to lead by example can also lead to people feeling that global heating was not a crisis, he said, despite the clear scientific evidence. “The urgency of their words [on climate] doesn’t seem to be matched by the signals they send through their behaviour. I think many leaders are still sending the signal that no emergency response is required.”

The study on leading by example, published in the journal Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, told almost 1,300 people about a political leader who was backing technological and international climate action and saying behaviour change was necessary, too. In some groups, the leader said they had made those changes themselves while in others the leader said they had not yet done so. The leaders did not directly call on people to make the behaviour changes.

“We found that leading by example sends very strong signals,” Westlake said. “We found an increase in people’s willingness to adopt low-carbon behaviour if they see leaders doing it, and the reverse. There’s also a really strong reaction in terms of perceptions of the leader.” Those leading by example were seen as more competent, effective and caring.

The study also told some groups about celebrities, rather than political leaders, and found the same strong effect of leading by example.

Instances of high-profile politicians leading by example are yet to occur, Westlake said, unlike negative examples. “What springs to mind is Boris Johnson flying back from the Cop26 climate conference” in Glasgow in 2021 rather than taking a train. “That is a quite powerful message,” he said.

The second study, published in the journal Energy Research & Social Science, was based on interviews with 19 MPs. It found those who were taking personal green action “tended to do this quietly for fear of negative reactions from the media, political rivals, and constituents”. The former prime minister David Cameron’s journey from “hugging a husky” in the Arctic to “cutting the green crap” was frequently cited by the MPs as showing the risk of being inconsistent.

Dr Maya Singer Hobb, from the Institute for Public Policy Research thinktank, said: “This research confirms what we hear again and again in our engagement with the public, which is that people are sensitive to hypocrisy; ‘why should I change my behaviour when politicians are taking private jets?’”

“There is a strong imperative for politicians to lead by example, both as a means of shifting the norms around behaviour change, but also from a fairness angle, since it is likely they will have greater emissions than most people,” she said.

“The research also suggests that fears of appearing ‘too virtuous’ are perhaps overblown, again reassuring politicians that they can take personal action. The democratic mandate for climate action is high, and the politicians will better maintain public support for green policies if they show that the responsibility for action will be fairly shared.”

Cover photo: By The Guardian