People across the UK are supportive of tackling climate adaptation and mitigation together, shows a new report from the Maximising UK Adaptation to Climate Change (MACC) Hub at King's and Climate Outreach.
The research, which includes a survey of 7,000 people, highlights that people are worried about how unprepared we are for the accelerating impacts of climate change. It also finds that support for adaptation action significantly increases when people are shown tangible solutions, such as heatproofing our homes and restoring natural flood defences.
Yet while experts often make the distinction between climate adaptation and mitigation actions, most members of the public do not see this distinction, or use these terms to categorise efforts to address climate change. Instead, there is strong support for the government to 'take climate change seriously'.
Key findings from the report include:
- Most people give equal support for actions that count as adaptation and mitigation. A majority recognises that both adapting to intensifying climate impacts and lowering our future carbon emissions are of equal importance.
- The terms 'climate adaptation' and 'climate resilience' aren't widely understood. Only half of people know what 'climate adaptation' means, whilst less than half know what 'climate resilience' is.
- The way climate adaptation is framed makes a huge difference to how much people support it. The more we explain what adaptation actions are and why we are doing them, the more people support the action.
The research strongly encourages policymakers and communicators to go beyond the terms adaptation and mitigation to garner public support; and to avoid pitting the concepts against each other. It recommends placing emphasis on the better futures we're trying to create - showing how tackling climate change makes lives and communities better, both by helping people adapt and reducing future harms.
Dr Helen Adams, Reader in Climate Change Adaptation and MACC Hub Lead, King's College London, said: "Climate change will impact all parts of our lives, from our physical and mental health, and the cost and availability of our food, to the plants we can grow in our gardens and holiday destinations we choose. The research shows that people are worried about climate change and a lack of response from the government. What we need to do is provide clear practical steps people can take to adapt to climate change, while encouraging more engagement with our elected officials to drive wider action."
Rachael Orr, CEO of Climate Outreach, said: "Adapting to our drastically changing climate has never felt more pertinent following the life-threatening heatwaves across the UK. This research tells us that whilst the measures we put in place to address immediate climate impacts are pressing for people across the UK, so are our efforts to keep on lowering our emissions to protect future generations. Policymakers and practitioners should remain ambitious in their plans to support people now, and in the future."
David Shukman, former BBC News Science Editor and author of 'The Response: A Story of Fire and Flood in Britain's New World of Extremes', published by Witness Books, May 2026, said: "This is valuable research because it shows that framing climate change in practical terms helps to explain it more widely - whether it's food security or flooding or the impact of the heatwaves disrupting the country. What's revealed is that the public don't see a difference between protecting ourselves from the impacts of rising temperatures and efforts to prevent those temperatures climbing further. For too long, the terminology of climate change has been confusing and alienating on this point, and these findings demonstrate how there's a constructive way forward. Adapting to the more hostile conditions we now face is not only a matter of life and death. It may also open a door to helping people understand how it's fossil fuels that are behind the threat in the first place, and that we do now have the means to move beyond them to make ourselves safer."
The research is drawn from a survey of 7,000 people across Britain and in-depth focus groups with people across the UK, including Northern Ireland. It is part of Climate Outreach's Britain Talks Climate & Nature series and produced in partnership with The Maximising UK Adaptation to Climate Change (MACC) Hub, led by King's College London and More in Common.
