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There has been an increase in the number of British people who are sceptical about climate change, a poll commissioned by BBC News has suggested.

It showed that 25% of those questioned did not think global warming was happening, an increase of 10% since a similar poll was conducted in November.  The percentage of respondents who said climate change was a reality had fallen from 83% in November to 75%.

The findings show that only 26% of people think “climate change is happening and is now established as largely man-made”, only 1% more than those who think there is no global warming.

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Relentless human-population growth coupled with rising consumption has outpaced the planet’s ability to cope. An article in BBC’s Green Room says we are now in "overshoot" — our numbers and levels of consumption greater than Earth's capacity to sustain us for the long-term. The writer says we must end world population growth, and then reduce population size in industrialized as well as developing nations.

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"The Age of Consequences" report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in the US, predicts that scarcity of resources may "dictate the terms of international relations" for years to come as rich countries could "go through a 30-year process of kicking away from the lifeboat."

Another report says energy needs in 2030 could rise more than 50% above current levels, mainly due to rapid economic growth in China and India. So who’s going to be kicking who?

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A sweeping global survey conducted for BBC World Service has found people are far more willing to make financial and lifestyle sacrifices to arrest climate change than most leaders acknowledge. But whatever else politicians think of the findings, they will certainly pounce on respondents’ willingness to pay higher taxes.

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The British government says new legislation will save four million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year by 2020 and help spread responsibility for collaring climate change right across the economy. A key thrust, however, will be to expand carbon trading, which means paying others to clean up our mess.

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A Conservative policy committee has proposed broad domestic tax rebates for those who improve energy efficiency on homes they purchase. The group also called for caps on the energy use of major appliances and a ban on goods that exceed restrictions. Britain’s ruling Labour Party, not surprisingly, has questioned the Tories’ calculations.