Most Australians want renewables: poll

An overwhelming majority of Australians want governments to focus on encouraging more renewable energy into the system, even if it means spending more to make the grid stable.

The latest Lowy Institute poll, released on Wednesday, finds four in five people want the government to focus on renewables.

Fewer than one in five wanted governments to focus on traditional energy sources such as coal and gas even if the environment suffered.

And nearly three in five (57 per cent) ranked climate change as a "critical threat" to Australian interests over the next decade.

This was a significant increase from when the question was last asked in 2014, when only 46 per cent rated it as a threat, but not as high as the peak of 68 per cent in 2006.