UK voters have delivered a stark warning to political leaders not to neglect environment and climate change policy with the next General Election nearly a year away, according to new research commissioned by WWF-UK ahead of Earth Hour 2014 at 8.30pm this evening.

 

Almost half (47 per cent) of the 2,000 UK consumers surveyed in WWF-UK’s poll said that they would be willing to switch their political allegiance to a different party based on the strength of environmental policies.

 

With the next General Election due in May 2015, it’s clear that the recent dramatic weather events have brought climate change and the environment onto the political centre stage.

 

Protection against flooding and other extreme weather events should also be prioritized by Westminster, with 88 per cent of respondents to WWF-UK’s poll feeling that the Government should be doing more in this regard.

 

In addition, 73 per cent of those surveyed also feel that the leaders of the main political parties are not currently giving enough emphasis to the environment, suggesting a lack of confidence in existing green policies.

 

The perceived link between extreme weather conditions and wider global climate change is also highlighted by WWF-UK’s latest research, with 72 per cent of respondents agreeing that Britain’s recent storms are evidence of a wider trend and 64 per cent feeling more concerned about the impacts of climate change following the storms that lashed Britain in the early part of 2014.

 

This increased awareness is in turn likely to make voters scrutinize environmental policies in more depth, with over half of respondents (53 per cent) claiming they will pay more attention to these sections of party manifestoes following recent extreme weather events.