54% of voters say the Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer is wrong to abandon his £28 billion green spending pledge, a survey by Nature 2030 has shown.
The Nature 2030 poll of 2,078 UK adults was conducted by Yonder between 9 February and 11 February 2024.
Sir Keir Starmer defended the U-turn on the spending pledge by telling reporters in Westminster that since the policy was announced “Liz Truss crashed the economy and other damage has been done”.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Labour’s policy was “in tatters” and the Labour leader had “a proven track record of U-turning on major issues”.
64% of people surveyed also said they support the introduction of a deposit return scheme (DRS) for plastic and glass bottles, as well as aluminium cans.
A similar poll carried out by YouGov, conducted on behalf of Keep Britain Tidy, showed that only 30% of respondents had heard of DRS and answered that they knew what it was.
However, once it was explained what DRS is, 66% of respondents supported the introduction of a DRS scheme. 76% believed glass should be included in DRS, the highest percentage, ahead of plastic (75%) and aluminium (69%).
The public is clearly in favour of maintaining bold action to invest in the future of our planet.
England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland plan to launch a DRS in October 2025. England and Northern Ireland plan to include polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and steel and aluminium cans in their scheme, while Wales plans to include glass bottles as well.
Scotland planned to include glass in its scheme, which was set to launch in 2023. However, the Scottish DRS was delayed until October 2025 after the UK Government declined a request for full exclusion from the Internal Market Act, which meant the DRS couldn’t include glass.
Commenting on the survey, Dominic Dyer, environmental activist and Chair of Nature 2030, said: “The public is clearly in favour of maintaining bold action to invest in the future of our planet and to take decisive action to help us meet our net zero ambitions.
“There is also a clear appetite for introducing an ambitious DRS to put an end to the scourge of litter that blights our high streets and countryside. Labour must now urgently set out its plan to tackle the climate crisis and to create a green, circular economy.
“Short-term economic challenges are no excuse for the absence of a long-term commitment to protecting the planet.”
