A section in our survey dealt with public attitudes towards climate change issues, solutions and tradeoffs between the environment and the economy.
Our survey was carried out online with 1107 members of the public in Ireland between August and November 2020.
Respondents were asked to select the statement that best reflected their perception of the gravity of climate change.
Over 90% of respondents believe that action should be taken to combat climate change, with over half of respondents believing that climate change is a serious problem requiring immediate action. Only 13 respondents do not believe climate change is of concern.
Respondents were also presented with a number of climate change solutions and asked which they believed was most likely to happen in Ireland.
The majority of respondents believe that lifestyle changes and reductions in energy consumption will be required to solve climate change.
Respondents were also asked their opinion on the importance of the environment versus the economy and to choose the stance that best reflected their opinion. The majority (59%) indicated that while both the environment and the economy were important, the environment should come first and a further 9% selected the option which stated that the highest priority should be given to the environment even if it hurts the economy.
