Ruadhán Jones
People who describe themselves as religious are significantly more likely to take responsibility for climate change than the general population. New research also reveals that young people are particularly inclined to lay the blame for climate change at the hands of government rather than taking personal responsibility.
As world leaders gather in Glasgow to try and agree new climate targets, the poll by The Good Information Project and Ireland Thinks asked people around Ireland for their personal perspectives – whether they’ve made changes for the environment, who’s most responsible for addressing the climate crisis, and how large a problem they understand it to be.
Some 87% of people said they have recycled more in recent years for environmental reasons while 71% have cut down on single-use plastics and 43% have reduced their purchases of clothes, while one-third of people say they eat less meat.
Issue
On the issue of where responsibility lies for tacking climate change, overall 44% of people said the Government, 28% said individuals and 27% said corporations.
However, for those who attend Mass at least weekly the figure for those taking personal responsibility rose to 39% while 45% said Government had the lions’ share of responsibility with just 14% saying corporations should take the lead.
Of those aged over 65, 40% thought individuals bore the most responsibility, 37% laid this at Government and 22% said corporations.
However, younger people were significantly more likely to think that responsibility lies outside of themselves. In the 18-24 age cohort, 58% said Government was most responsible, followed by corporations at 32% while just 10% – one in ten – felt the responsibility lay with individuals. A similar picture is evident in the 25-34 age cohort where 54% cited Government, 30% corporations and 15% individuals.
Women were also more likely to take personal responsibility with 33% saying individuals should take the lead as opposed to only 23% of men surveyed who believed the same thing.