Key climate language poorly understood by majority in UK, poll finds

Supermarket products in plastic packaging. Only 47% of consumers questioned were confident at defining ‘single-use plastics’. Photograph: Paul Weston/Alamy

The British public has a worryingly low understanding of language around the climate crisis and environmental policies to reduce waste, according to the findings of a survey.

Only a quarter of people questioned clearly understood the term “green” and about the same number could accurately describe what “sustainable” – making something in a way that causes little or no damage to the environment – meant.