Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

30 Chapter 1: Introduction Figure 1.3  Environmental issues of most concern to Irish citizens ˜ 2008 ˜ 2011 ˜ 2020 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Year Climate change Depletion of natural resources Natural disaster Bio- diversity loss Chemicals Human- caused disasters Air pollution Waste Water pollution (%) Sources: Compiled from EC,2008; EC 2011; EC 2020 3 See also Chapter 4 of this report. About three-quarters of Irish (74%) and European (78%) citizens agree that environmental issues have a direct effect on their daily lives and their health (EC, 2024b). It is notable that, in several Eurobarometer surveys over the past decade, Irish people have consistently positively recognised the value of EU environmental legislation (values range from 80% to 88%) (EC, 2014, 2017, 2020, 2024b). An interesting finding in the most recent Eurobarometer survey was much greater concern about plastic waste and food waste reported by Irish people than by other Europeans (Figure 1.4) (EC, 2024b). The EPA’s Climate Change in the Irish Mind 3 project shows that people in Ireland are positive about climate action (O’Mahony et al. , 2024). The findings indicate that 89% of people report that climate change is important to them personally and 79% say that climate change should be either a ‘very high’ or ‘high’ priority for government, with high overall support for a range of climate action policies. Moreover, Irish people think that climate action will increase economic growth and create jobs (56%) and that actions to reduce climate change will improve quality of life in Ireland (74%) (O’Mahony et al., 2024). Figure 1.4 Waste types considered most problematic in 2024 Eurobarometer survey (% of responses) ˜ EU ˜ Ireland 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Plastic waste Chemical waste Electronic waste Battery waste Food waste Textile waste All of these Don’t know None of these (Spontaneous) Source: EC, 2024b