Over 40% of Irish people feel at risk of dangers posed by climate change

Seán McCárthaigh

More than 4 in 10 Irish people feel they are directly at risk of dangers posed by climate change while 2 in 3 believe the Irish government is not doing enough to tackle the issue, according to research published by the European Commission.

A new Eurobarometer poll shows the proportion of Irish citizens who feel personally exposed to some environmental or climate-related risk such as fires, floods, pollution or extreme weather conditions has grown significantly in the past two years.

The survey reveals that 41 per cent of Irish respondents feel “very exposed” or “somewhat exposed” to problems linked to climate change – up 13 percentage points from when a similar poll was conducted in 2023.

It is the highest percentage increase among the 27 EU member states together with Austria and Latvia and indicates a growing concern among Irish people about the threats posed by climate change.

At the same time, 64 per cent of Irish people think the Government is not doing enough to tackle the problem.

The Eurobarometer poll of over 26,000 citizens across the 27 EU member states, including over 1,000 in the Republic, examined public attitudes to climate change.

The report shows people in Malta (68 per cent) are the most concerned about being personally exposed to risks linked to climate change while people in Finland (14 per cent) were the least concerned.

Across the EU, 38 per cent of citizens on average said they felt personally at risk from phenomena associated with climate change.

It also found that 86 per cent of Irish people said they regarded climate change as a serious problem at the moment.

The attitude of other Europeans who regard the issue as a serious problem ranges from 60% in Estonia to 92% in France with the EU average at 85 per cent.

The survey also showed that more than 9 out of 10 Irish people think it is important that the Government takes action to increase the use of renewable energy, while a similar proportion consider preparing better for the adverse impacts of climate change will improve the lives of citizens.

In addition, 84 per cent believe that the cost of damage due to climate change is much higher than the cost of investment needed for a green transition.

More than 8 out of 10 Irish respondents also feel reducing fossil fuel imports from outside the EU will improve energy security and benefit the EU economically.

Nevertheless, citizens of only four of the 27 EU member states – Sweden, Denmark, The Netherlands and Malta – rated climate change as the single most serious problem facing the world as a whole.

Respondents from Ireland – like a majority of countries – listed armed conflicts as the main issue of concern.

Across the EU, women and those aged 15-24 as well as those with higher education levels were more likely to identify climate change as the most important issue.

Almost two-thirds of Irish respondents (63 per cent) said they had personally taken some action to fight climate change over the previous six months.

The most common forms of action were separating waste for recycling, reducing consumption of disposable items and choosing public transport over a private car.

The survey also indicated that the potential impact of climate changes was modifying people’s behaviour when it came to issues like where to live or go on holiday.

It found 81 per cent claim they consider the risk of floods and exposure to other climate-related threats when choosing where to live, while 68% said they consider the potential exposure to extreme weather or the likelihood of forest fires when deciding on a holiday destination.

The report also shows that 14 per cent of Irish people do not believe that climate change is caused by human activity – the exact same proportion as the EU average.

It highlighted that there is a certain degree of scepticism towards the reporting of climate change issues by traditional media, while the same topic on social media causes confusion.

Only 46 per cent of Irish people said traditional media provided clear information on climate change and its causes and impacts – the 5th lowest rate among the 27 EU member states where the average was 52 per cent.

The survey also revealed that 40 per cent of Irish citizens admitted it was difficult to differentiate between reliable information and disinformation about climate change on social media.