Farming not recognised as top emitter by two-thirds of the public

Only 30pc of people in Ireland correctly identified agriculture as the largest source of the pollution that causes climate change, according to the second wave of the EPA’s Climate Change in the Irish Mind survey.

Many people identified other producers of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as the largest producer, including transport (25pc), energy industries (28pc), the waste sector (13pc) and the residential sector (4pc).

EPA GHG inventory data for 2022 shows that the agricultural sector was the largest producer of GHG emissions in Ireland, accounting for a third of all emissions, followed by the transport, energy and residential sectors.

Other sectors, such as waste, comprise only a small amount of the total GHG emissions.

The survey also found that a large majority of people (91pc) support increasing forest areas to offset GHG emissions from agriculture, while fewer (58pc) support reducing the size of the national cattle herd to reduce GHG emissions from agriculture.

The EPA found that 81pc of people in Ireland are worried about climate change and 75pc think extreme weather poses a moderate or high risk to their community over the next 10 years, with increases in worry in relation to severe storms (74pc) and extreme heat (54pc).

Of the respondents, 89pc report that climate change is important to them personally and 79pc say climate change should be either a “very high” or “high” priority for the Government, with high overall support for a range of climate action policies.

Irish people think that climate action will increase economic growth and create jobs (56pc), and actions to reduce climate change will improve quality of life in Ireland (74pc).

Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan said: “Irish people have a good understanding of the complex issues of climate change, that they are concerned about its effects on their lives, but importantly that they believe that taking climate action can make our country more resilient, creating jobs and improving our quality of life.”

Laura Burke, Director General of the EPA said that the findings highlight that Irish people are aware of these impacts and are worried about the harm it may cause. “Despite the many challenges, including cost of living increases, people remain positive about the benefits of climate action for our economy and quality of life,” she said.

The survey was undertaken by the EPA and the Yale University Program on Climate Change Communication.