How do older adults in England view climate change risk?

Details

The study investigated the diversity of attitudes toward climate change risk among older adults in England. The authors noted that this group is vulnerable to climate impacts and influential in shaping climate policy, yet its specific attitudes toward the risk have often been overlooked. They aimed to identify distinct attitude profiles and examine associated sociodemographic, economic, health and civic factors.

The researchers analyzed responses from 6,572 people aged 50 and older in Wave 11 (2023–2024) of the nationally representative English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. They used latent class analysis of six climate-related statements to identify attitude types, and multinomial logistic regression to examine associations between profile membership and individual characteristics.

They identified five profiles: highly engaged with climate change risk (30.3%), engaged with climate change risk (31.3%), risk-aware but fatalistic (11.1%), ambivalent or uncertain about climate change risk (21.5%), and dismissive of climate change risk (5.8%). Younger age, higher education, greater financial resources and higher public engagement were associated with a greater likelihood of being highly engaged. Lower education, economic hardship and lack of civic engagement were linked to ambivalent or uncertain attitudes. Older adults were more likely to be risk-aware but fatalistic.

Contrary to common assumptions, most older adults were engaged with climate change risk, although attitudes varied considerably: about 27% were ambivalent, uncertain or dismissive. The authors suggest that inclusive and effective climate policy should recognize this diversity and use outreach and communication emphasizing personal relevance and actionable solutions, especially for people with ambivalent or uncertain views.