Action 6
Summary
- 77% of respondents agree with action 6 – to support energy efficiency and cleaner heating solutions
- Those who agree mention that financial support/ incentives are needed for people to make changes (16%) and that awareness and education are important to drive behaviour change (12%)
- The main criticism from those who disagree with action 6 is that improvements to energy efficiency and cleaner heating solutions are too expensive for many households. This reason is echoed by those with a neutral opinion
- 17% of those with a neutral viewpoint also criticise the wording of the action, specifically the conflating of two separate issues and ‘tackling decarbonisation’ being the incorrect way to phrase the issue (suggested: ‘tackling carbon emissions’, ‘decarbonisation’ being the solution)
How much do you agree or disagree with action 6?
Base: Total sample (496)
This chart shows:
46% of respondents strongly agree with action 6
31% of respondents agree
12% of respondents neither agree nor disagree
6% of respondents disagree
5% of respondents strongly disagree
Please tell us why you agree with action 6?
Base: All those who agree with action 6 (385)
| wdt_ID | Key themes | % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Financial support/incentives needed for people to make changes | 16 |
| 3 | Awareness and education important to drive behaviour change | 12 |
| 12 | Improves the environment/helps save the planet/limit climate change | 11 |
| 13 | Commonsense/good idea/obvious | 11 |
| 14 | Reduces energy bills | 10 |
| 15 | Reduces energy use | 4 |
| 16 | Better health outcomes | 4 |
| 17 | Generally positive | 3 |
| 18 | Good to look at decarbonisation and reducing air pollution together | 3 |
| 19 | Practical barriers to some solutions e.g. not enough space for heat pumps, too noisy, older housing stock | 3 |
| 20 | Landlords (including the Council) and businesses should make all green changes possible/all new builds should be ‘Passivhaus’ design as standard | 3 |
| 21 | Other initiatives needed e.g. active travel options/improved EV infrastructure/better recycling rates/reduce single use plastics | 1 |
| 22 | Difficult to know what information to trust/verified installers needed | 1 |
| 23 | Should be others leading the way on this e.g. energy companies, central government | 1 |
| 24 | Other e.g. good to work with other partners such as Share Portsmouth, speed up transition to green energy, more solar panels, much needed, should already be happening, must be voluntary | 6 |
| 25 | Na/no comment | 36 |
Respondent quotes:
“It is so important but it does need to come with support for those who don’t have the resources to make the changes themselves.”
“Everyone can make small changes to save energy but maybe not everyone knows what they can do.”
“Reducing our carbon footprint is really important for the environment. For those who have to struggle hardest to survive day to day in the cost of living crisis, this can be a hard thing to prioritise. Supporting vulnerable residents to prioritise this and perhaps rewarding the reduction of carbon footprints by individuals in some way would help I think.”
Please could you tell us why you disagree with action 6?
Base: All those who disagree with action 6 (51)
| wdt_ID | Key themes | % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Improvements are too expensive/many households not eligible for grants e.g. heat pumps, solar panels | 29 |
| 3 | Nanny state/not the council's business | 18 |
| 12 | Greenwashing | 14 |
| 13 | Many properties unsuitable for improvements e.g. flats, HMOs, listed buildings | 12 |
| 14 | Green energy solutions less efficient/don't work as well e.g. heat pumps | 12 |
| 15 | None of this will reduce the price of energy | 10 |
| 16 | Anti-council sentiment | 8 |
| 17 | Tackle other sources of pollution first | 4 |
| 18 | Other e.g. ensure commercial and council buildings also comply, national grid not ready for everyone to switch to heat pumps or electrical heating etc. | 8 |
| 19 | Na/no comment | 20 |
Please could you tell us why you neither agree nor disagree with action 6?
Base: All those who neither agree nor disagree with action 6 (60)
| wdt_ID | Key themes | % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Too expensive/question the costs | 18 |
| 3 | Criticism of the action wording e.g. 'tackling decarbonisation' incorrect phrase/too vague/too woolly/confusing two separate issues (air pollution and decarbonisation) | 17 |
| 12 | Many properties unsuitable for improvements e.g. flats, HMOs, listed buildings | 12 |
| 13 | Not needed/people can make their own decisions/already know this | 10 |
| 14 | Current infrastructure doesn't support switch over | 5 |
| 15 | New solutions not effective e.g. heat pumps | 5 |
| 16 | Won't reduce energy costs | 3 |
| 17 | Other e.g. cheaper ways to reduce air pollution, not practical, balanced approach needed, tax wealthier residents with large EVs | 8 |
| 18 | Na/no comment | 38 |
