Perceptions of climate change and policy among farmers and the public in Ireland

This study investigates how farmers, rural residents, and urban residents compare when it comes to perceptions and understanding of climate change, as well as willingness to make changes in their lives to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The study takes place in a context where there is an urgent need to act together to reduce GHG emissions across multiple sectors of the economy, yet any real or perceived divisions in society – between farmers and non-farmers, between rural and urban residents – can threaten collective action to curb climate change.

The study has two primary motivations. First, making progress on reducing GHG emissions from agriculture is particularly important in Ireland, because emissions from agriculture are higher than those of any other sector (Environmental Protection Agency, 2024a). Ireland produces more than twice the agricultural emissions per capita of any other European Union country. Second, the success of climate policy depends heavily on people’s willingness to engage in collective action, but divisions between social groups (or perceptions thereof) can threaten this willingness. Thus, disagreement between groups about the nature of the collective challenge and the science behind it needs to be avoided. Accurate measures of how people in different social groups view climate change and policy can help to identify and, hopefully, correct misperceptions and misunderstandings that have the potential to cause conflict.