cast.ac.uk

5 key messages from five years of CAST research: New report

5 key messages from five years of CAST research: New report

Read our latest CAST report: 'Catalysts of Change: People at the Heart of Climate Transformations', and watch our animation summarising 5 key messages from five years of CAST social science research on climate change and how we can achieve the social changes needed to tackle climate change.

Our Vision

The Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST) is a global hub for understanding the systemic and society-wide transformations that are required to address climate change. At the core of our work is a fundamental question of enormous social significance: how can we as a society live differently - and better - in ways that meet the urgent need for rapid and far-reaching emission reductions?

People at the heart of transformations

We want to understand how people can participate in transformation in their multiple roles as citizens, consumers, parents, employees, business leaders, policy-makers. This means recognising that people can act both directly to reduce emissions – like driving less – but equally have the ability to shape wider structural change – like changing organisational practices and shaping policies.

A focus on values and co-benefits

We set out to align the positive outcomes of action on climate change with those in other domains like health and wellbeing. CAST seeks to identify low-carbon futures and actions that also provide other co-benefits - like cleaner air, lower bills, more resilient or fairer communities.

"We want to work closely with people and organisations to achieve positive low-carbon futures — transforming the way we live our lives, and reconfiguring organisations and cities."

Prof. Lorraine Whitmarsh MBE, CAST Director

Explore our four areas of focus

Find out why we are focusing on four key areas: Diet, Mobility, Material Consumption and Thermal Comfort.

Our resources include policy briefings, working papers, academic articles, reports and other resources exploring the science of climate action.

We believe effective change requires working with people to understand their values and needs.

News from CAST

Our latest report

Cost of living crisis hasn’t dented public support for climate policies… and there are some policies which are almost universally supported

New data shows the UK public continue to support ‘net zero’ policies, despite the cost-of-living crisis. Polling undertaken by Ipsos and CAST in October 2022 find many climate policies actually enjoying higher levels of support than in August 2021. This was despite record levels of climate change concern recorded in…

UK will fail to reach climate targets unless Government drives behaviour change

A new report has revealed that a third of emission savings by 2035 must come from people changing their behaviours. The House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee report, In our hands: behaviour change for climate and environmental goals is the output of a committee inquiry which heard from…

How can SMEs be supported to rapidly decarbonise? Try talking to them about what really matters.

Collectively, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make a significant contribution to carbon emissions. Transformative changes are needed to achieve Net Zero amongst the SME population, presenting policymakers and practitioners with a complex and largely unresolved set of challenges. Colleagues from Oxford University, Open University Business School, and CAST partner Climate…

Climate anxiety an important driver for climate action

The first-ever detailed study of climate anxiety among the UK adult population suggests that whilst rates are currently low, people’s fears about the future of the planet might be an important trigger for action when it comes to adapting our high-carbon lifestyles to become more environmentally friendly. Interest in climate…