Having published explainers on specific aspects of climate statistics, our Climate and Net Zero Task Force has now also produced a guide to finding and understanding UK official statistics that relate to changes taking place in our environment.
The task force, chaired by former RSS president Dr Andrew Garrett and Professor of Statistical Climatology, Prof David Stephenson seeks to increase public understanding around the statistical aspects of climate change.
The unofficial guide has been produced with the help of colleagues in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Office for National Statistics and the Met Office. Among many areas, it covers the main sources of relevant information on:
- Weather and weather events
- Greenhouse gas emissions
- Public opinions on climate change
- Renewable energy usage
It also points to places where information is available regarding global changes relevant to climate change, such as particular United Nations outputs and Copernicus, the European Union's Earth Observation Programme.
While the guide largely focuses on official statistics, it points to the wealth of other available data on climate change. In line with our Public Statistics initiative which seeks an approach of going beyond official statistics to answer society’s pressing questions, the guide calls for this other data to be capitalised on and included in UK official statistical reports and for current data gaps to be filled.
There is a richness of climate change statistics available both at UK level and internationally. However, this is a complex area and there are some gaps. We hope the guide will help navigate the available statistics and provide encouragement for identifying and filling gaps.
Read the full guide