Climate Change in the Irish Mind

Latest release:

Updated Interactive Climate Opinion maps featuring CCIM Wave 2 data (2023) are now available.

Project Overview

The EPA’s ‘Climate Change in the Irish Mind’ (CCIM) project is conducted in partnership with Yale University’s ‘Programme on Climate Change Communications’ (YPCCC). 
 
The CCIM project serves as the national hub for understanding: 

• Public climate change knowledge 
• Attitudes
• Policy preferences
• Behaviours
• The underlying psychological and cultural factors that influence the public 

The CCIM is carried out as a nationally representative survey every two years. Data on the Irish population is collected via telephone interviews. It is the only large representative climate attitude survey of its type in Ireland. 

Objectives

The aims and objectives of the Climate Change in the Irish Mind study are as follows:

• To establish national-level baselines on attitudes and behaviours to climate change. 
• To identify segments of the Irish population based on responses to climate change issues. 
• To estimate Irish climate change beliefs, attitudes, policy support and behaviour at national, regional, and local levels. 
• To support the development of a communications strategy to distribute the research findings. 

Outcomes

  There are two main types of reports from CCIM and an interactive climate opinions map.

• Main CCIM reports: Provide an overview of information for policymakers and researchers on attitudes and behaviours. 
• Segmentation reports: Divide the population into distinct climate change audiences. Each with individual ways of understanding and reacting to the topic of climate change. 
• Climate opinion maps: To allow for easy exploration of CCIM data on a national, regional and county scale.

The outcomes of the CCIM project can be explored by clicking the links below. Each project has associated infographics and supporting information included: 

Climate Change in the Irish Mind Wave 2 (2023-2024 )

• 'Climate Change in the Irish Mind Wave 2, Report 1': Provides an overview on the public’s  climate change attitudes, beliefs and behaviours in the second wave of the Climate Change in the Irish Mind study. 
• 'Climate Change's Four Irelands Wave 2, Report 2': Divides the population into distinct climate change audiences with their own ways of understanding and reacting to the topic of climate change. 

Climate Change in the Irish Mind Wave 1 (2021-2022) 

• 'Climate Change in the Irish Mind: Wave 1, Report 1’ (2021): Provides an overview on the public’s  climate change attitudes, beliefs and behaviours. 
• 'Climate Change’s Four Irelands: Wave 1, Report 2' (2022): Divides the population into distinct climate change audiences with different ways of understanding and reacting to the topic of climate change. 
  

Climate Change in the Irish Mind Insight Reports (Wave 1) 

Climate Change in the Irish Mind Insight Reports are brief supplementary reports that provide additional insights into the CCIM headline findings. 

• Support for Climate Policies: This insight report explores regional support and opposition to climate action policies
• Climate Risk Perceptions: This insight report focuses on climate risk perceptions along demographic lines
  
• Worry about Climate Change impacts: This insight report explores patterns in worry about the impact  of local environmental hazards
• Intention Action Dynamic: This insight report explores the relationships between political and consumer intentions and behaviours in relation to climate change
  

Interactive Climate Opinion maps 

• An interactive mapping tool: Uses the most current Climate Change in the Irish Mind study data at Wave 2 (2023). This allows for exploration of the public’s climate change attitudes, beliefs and behaviours on a national, regional, and county level. 
  

Wave 1 open data set

Climate Change in the Irish Mind open data: The first wave of the CCIM dataset is now publicly available for download. To find out more please visit the link.