How social sciences are essential in the UK’s net zero transition
Published on 5 June 2025
“Social science research can not only assist the UK in meeting climate mitigation and net zero goals, it can also help us all imagine what future low carbon places and societies – in terms of societal needs and aspirations and technological possibilities – could and should look like,” writes ACCESS’s Professor Karen Bickerstaff for The Foundation for Science and Technology (FST) blog.
Karen’s piece on the FST blog argues that the solution to the net zero challenge lies more in socio-technical interventions that enable adjustments to how we live, rather than in purely technological interventions that sustain current patterns of demand and expectations around consumption, and she stresses that social science research is critical in supporting such systemic changes.
Drawing on the findings of the Net Zero Task Force and Citizens’ Survey, Karen demonstrates the British public’s willingness to make some of these necessary changes as well as the need for meaningful civic dialogue around net zero policy.