Thurles Information

One third of Irish people are alarmed about climate change.

EPA publishes ‘Climate Change’s Four Irelands’ Audience Segmentation Analysis.

The report “Climate Change’s Four Irelands” identifies four different audiences of people in Ireland who share a similar set of beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours relating to climate change. These are:

• The Alarmed: 34% of the Irish population strongly think that climate change, caused by human activity, is a real and immediate threat.
• The Concerned: 48% of the Irish population are convinced that climate change is a serious issue, but are less worried than the ‘Alarmed’ and view it as a less immediate threat.
• The Cautious: 14% of the Irish population think climate change is happening, but are less sure of the causes and are less likely than the ‘Alarmed’ or ‘Concerned’ to think it will affect them personally.
• The Doubtful: 4% of the Irish population are not worried about climate change, and do not perceive it as a threat.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has today published ‘Climate Change’s Four Irelands’ an audience segmentation analysis of the Irish population. The report identifies four audiences within the Irish public who share similar sets of beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours relating to climate change. The Alarmed (34%), Concerned (48%), Cautious (14%), and Doubtful (4%) strongly differ on their knowledge, levels of worry and willingness to take personal action on climate change. The findings are consistent with the previous assessment published by the EPA in 2022.

This work was undertaken by the EPA and the Yale University Program on Climate Change Communication, in support of the National Dialogue on Climate Action, and provides an update on the ‘Climate Change in the Irish Mind’ project.

Welcoming the report Dr Eimear Cotter, Director of EPA’s Office of Evidence and Assessment said: “Climate Change’s Four Irelands’ shows that more than four out of five people in Ireland, across all regions and backgrounds, are either in the ‘Alarmed’ or ‘Concerned’ category. The small percentage in the ‘Doubtful’ category shows that climate scepticism is rare in Ireland.”
She further added; “People from cities, towns, villages and rural areas hold diverse views on climate change, but the study does not show a strong urban-rural divide. In relation to our attitudes to climate change, more unites us than divides us.”

The report shows that a majority within each climate change audience agrees that climate change is happening. While awareness of climate change is very high, there are strong differences in what the audiences believe is causing it. Climate change is mostly caused by human activities, however, a significant minority of the ‘Alarmed’ and ‘Concerned’ audiences incorrectly believe that climate change is caused equally by human and natural action. The ‘Alarmed’ audience feels most knowledgeable about climate change, followed by the Doubtful.”

Speaking about the report Ms Mary Frances Rochford, Programme Manager said: “Successfully addressing the challenge of climate change requires a diversity of messages, messengers and methods that reach each of these four audiences and must be tailored to meet their particular needs. This analysis provides a useful framework to help climate communicators identify and understand their target audiences to engage the public more effectively about climate change and solutions.”

Insights from the segmentation report support climate policy and decision makers, climate educators and communicators across Irish society, including government, agencies, local authorities, academic institutions, environmental organisations, businesses, scientists and the media.