CANBERRA—Australian attitudes towards climate change have crystallised into solid support for action, new research shows.
But, equally, there is widespread scepticism about the ability of major political parties to deliver the necessary action.
The Climate Institute's Climate of the Nation report details the attitudes of Australians since the November federal election.
"In the aftermath of the world's first climate change election, public concern and hunger for action remains high," institute Chief Executive John Connor said.
"The majority of Australians (52 per cent) are unable to discern between the two major parties on climate change, meaning political brand ownership of climate leadership remains up for grabs."
Mr Connor says there is an emerging theme in the research - that people expected to see more action from the Government and were prepared to back it up with changes in their own lives.
"Again, there is considerable community support for both personal and government action to deal with climate change," he said.
"This marks a strong point of differentiation with perspectives countenanced among some commentators suggesting that Australians would be unwilling to adopt sustainable practices in their lives."
Mr Connor says there is solid interest for the Rudd Government maintaining climate change as a high priority during its first three years in office.
The research showed eight in 10 people wanted to see the Government give climate change a very high priority or a high priority, while only 16 per cent believed it should receive a low priority for government action.
"Most Australians are ready to support a new approach to energy generation and use in order to deal with climate change," Mr Connor said.
"At the top of their list are clean sources of energy from wind and solar followed by greater efficiency in homes and cars and more money spent on public transport."
There was substantial support for greenhouse pollution targets by 2020 and prevention of further land clearing.
More than half the population also favours cutting subsidies for fossil fuels, introduction of a carbon trading system and investing in capturing and burying pollution from coal and gas.
The report found there was overwhelming support for using new clean sources of electricity generation, with 74 per cent supporting laws to ensure all new electricity generation comes from clean energy sources and 89 per cent supporting subsidising solar panels for a million Australian houses.
Almost half the population (46 per cent) is unsure about the effect that addressing climate change would have on the economy and jobs.
"These people believe that addressing climate change might hurt the economy and jobs," the report said.
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