Developing a tool to accelerate climate action at the city scale
CAST has developed a 'Carbon and Co-benefits Decision Support Tool’ in collaboration with Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. This tool enables decisions on policies and initiatives to be assessed on various sustainability criteria, including their contribution to climate change and their impact on things like nature, equality and health. The tool is now fully integrated into GMCA’s decision-making process and has also been adopted by the Greater London Authority and Flintshire County Council. An online version is freely available to all local authorities.
Influencing national climate policy
CAST has contributed to and advised on several UK government policy reports, including the Skidmore Review of Net Zero, the Climate Change Committee’s 7th Carbon Budget and Wales’ report on Enabling the Transition to Net Zero by 2035. In September 2025, CAST Director Lorraine Whitmarsh gave expert evidence in the House of Commons to support Parliament’s inquiry into ‘how to build support for the energy transition’.
Training and educating climate professionals
CAST delivers training sessions and speaking engagements on a range of topics related to climate action. We have trained policy officials and practitioners on behaviour change, public engagement and communications. We have helped climate organisations better engage with MPs. And we’ve raised awareness among researchers about the need for greater diversity in climate work.
Tracking public attitudes to climate change
CAST’s annual global survey measures public perceptions of climate change, low-carbon behaviour, climate policy, trust and responsibility. The results – based on data from over 15,500 (adult) participants from the UK, Brazil, China and Sweden – are freely available in the CAST Data Portal. You can explore perceptions over time, by socio-demographic variables (e.g. age, income, political orientation) and by country.
