Irish climate concern remains high but fewer aware humans are responsible - where does your county stand?
Risk awareness is increasing in areas hit by floods, wildfires and water shortages says the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Public concern about the climate crisis and Ireland's responsibility to act remains high but fewer people are aware humans are the cause and agriculture is the biggest polluter, according to a new report.
The Environmental Protection Agency's latest research on Irish attitudes, policy preferences and behaviours also found awareness of the risks are increasing in areas historically hit by floods, wildfires and water shortages.
They say the Irish people are largely united in the view climate change is happening, with no discernible difference between rural and urban populations and majority support for policies to tackle it.
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But according to the data, while 82 per cent are worried and 87 per cent believe Ireland has a responsibility to act - just 31 per cent know agriculture is Ireland's biggest source of climate pollution and just 55 per cent believe the climate crisis is mostly caused by human activities.
But where does your county fall in relation to climate attitudes?
According to the EPA research, counties in the southwest and in and around Dublin are more concerned about the climate crisis and while there is majority agreement that Ireland has to act, there is a north-south divide in the numbers that agree with this.
Fewer people in northwest counties, Monaghan and Laois also believe climate change is mostly caused by human activity.
An emerging divergence was noted between Dublin and other counties regarding support for taxing fossil fuel-powered cars, and a slight fall in support for banning fossil fuels for home heating in the northwest. People in counties with a history of environmental risks such as flooding, water shortages or wildfire, also showed an increased awareness of the potential impacts of these risks resulting from climate change.
Speaking about the new climate change opinion maps, Dr Eimear Cotter, Director of the Office of Evidence & Assessment said: "These maps show nationwide acceptance of the scientific consensus on climate change, and strong support for most climate action policies, with minimal variation based on where people live, and that most climate attitudes were resilient in the face of cost-of-living increases.
"However, we also see that public understanding of the causes of climate change is limited and varies between counties. In some counties, less than half of the population understands that climate change is human caused, compared to about six in ten in other areas."
While overall support for climate action is high and largely consistent across the country, there are slight regional variations in support for policies like the banning of peat, coal and oil for home heating in Wave 2 of the Climate Change in the Irish Mind study. Support is highest in urban areas and weakest in the northwest and border regions. A similar pattern is evident for policies to increase taxes on cars that use petrol and diesel.
It appears people also tend to be worried about known region-specific risks - with a higher percentage of people worried about water shortages in Dublin and the mid-east than the rest of the country. However, water pollution remains a widespread worry for eight in ten people across all counties.
Dr Tara Higgins, Programme Manager, EPA Evidence Programme, said: "It is encouraging to see that most people across all parts of Ireland believe we have a collective responsibility to act on climate change. It will be important to understand and address people’s concerns about some climate action policies – such as moving away from fossil fuelled transport and home heating.
"These latest climate opinion maps are a valuable resource for climate policy decision-makers, researchers, the media, non-governmental organisations, and students. We encourage people to use these maps to explore opinions on climate change and worries about climate risks in their own county and region."
You can see what your county's attitudes to the climate crisis are in the EPA's interactive map here.
This is the third output from Wave 2 of the Climate Change in the Irish Mind study, undertaken in 2023 by the EPA and the Yale University Program on Climate Change Communication in support of the National Dialogue on Climate Action.
We will be bringing all the latest updates from the COP29 climate summit in Baku with support from Global Ireland. You can follow our environment correspondent on the ground @ShaunaReports on X.
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