Climate Change denier, fossil fuel advocate, future net zero slayer. When it comes to separating fact from misinformation, the Reform UK leader has dubious credentials, but many supporters aren’t swayed.
Sir David Attenborough is far and away the UK’s most trusted source for information and evidence on natural history and the environment. After more than 70 years in the field, he’s witnessed the fifth mass extinction begin at the hands of habitat loss, abuse of land, and the destruction of vital ecosystems, a trac record stretching back long before the idea that human activity might be creating an existential threat to the survival of life on Earth became controversial.
But at the grand age of 100, the king of wildlife and nature is certainly at the twilight of his career, leaving many to ask who else we can turn to for inspiration and understandings of our planet and its non-human inhabitants. Unsurprisingly, 44% said Professor Brian Cox was the next most trusted public figure for scientific and environmental topics. This was followed by Chris Packham (25%), John Craven (23%), King Charles II (21%) and Bill Gates (20%).
All of which makes some sense — those names have been associated with climate mitigation and conservation for decades now. But what follows on the leaderboard is much more surprising. Just 14% trust youth activist icon Greta Thunberg, despite most of her speeches focusing on scientific evidence of ecological collapse and the increasingly clear risk to hers and younger generations. Perhaps more striking still, 13% believe we should be looking at Elon Musk for facts and figures, even though his SpaceX venture is responsible for huge amounts of environmental damage, while AI model Grok also has an abysmal footprint and even worse track record for skewing responses to users in favour of troubling agendas.
Both were closely followed by accomplished astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who ranked ninth — a brief intermission of logic before then 10 most trusted people on science and the environment rounds out with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. The same career politician who has promised to do away with emissions reductions targets, which would make the UK an international outlier at a time when we are currently considered a leader. Although perhaps that’s not too surprise, given this is the man who previously shouted that ‘science is never settled’. A brazen attempt to conflate the idea that theories cannot be absolutely proven, and instead the burden of evidence sits wit those looking to disprove grand ideas.
Putting it into perspective, the polling — carried out by Diffusion — found that less people (just 6%) believe what Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband, has to say about the environment. All of which points to a particularly worrying cultural phenomenon which is not confined to climate and science, but is arguably most visible there. Simply put, trust in institutions and many public figures has all-but-collapsed in the post-Covid world.
If this sounds like an exaggeration, consider the fact that 10% of respondents do not trust any individuals when it comes to these topics. Meanwhile, BBC, Sky News, Channel 4 News were the most trusted broadcasters in the country, but non mustered support above 37%. In contrast, just 18% had faith in national newspapers, which is worryingly low albeit significantly higher than the 11% that believe social media influencers.
Content style and type may have much to answer for. 42% of those in the study want more climate and environmental news in the documentary form. 37% are looking for real life stories. 34% argued for simple, clearly written articles, with 29% advocating direct Q&A interviews with leading scientists. The point being, people are asking for content that is direct, quick to consume and presents things in a tangible context they can relate to, empathise or sympathise with.
‘The answer is to urgently invest in nurturing a broader, more diverse range of credible voices on science and technology to build the public support that innovation needs to flourish,’ said Ivana Farthing, Science Communication Lead at Diffusion. ‘In an age of conspiracy, it’s reassuring that the public still trusts scientists and academics. But here’s the problem — researchers remain the most underused communicators in science.
‘Many are reluctant to engage with the media and the public, and that caution carries a real cost,’ she continued. ‘When credible scientific voices step back, less credible ones fill the space, and the consequences are misinformation, oversimplification and eroding public confidence. So my message to scientists is simple: you can no longer stay in the safety of the lab and hope someone else will carry the torch. If you believe in your work and want it funded, supported and accepted, you need to step forward and lead the conversation.’
Image: Ante Hamersmit / Unsplash
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