Two-thirds of Irish children want to study climate change 

More than half of school-goers said climate change was not covered in a way that inspired them to take action, despite 86% learning about it in class. File picture: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie

Climate change should be a standalone subject in school, according to two-thirds of Irish young people, while a sizeable chunk of taxpayers would like to see extra charges imposed for flying, driving, and eating meat.

Those are the findings of two separate surveys regarding the climate crisis, which examined the thoughts of more than 1,300 young people and 2,200 taxpayers respectively.

Ahead of the Climate and Nature Summit next month – Ireland’s first climate change summit bringing together school-aged children, teachers, educators and activists – organisers gauged young people's views on climate change and the environment.

More than half of school-goers said climate change was not covered in a way that inspired them to take action, despite 86% learning about it in class. 

Some 45% felt climate change and the environment was very important to them personally, while 77% said they worried about its impact. Of those surveyed, 64% want to see it introduced as a subject on its own in school.

Teenage environmental activist Flossie Donnelly said it had been a personal goal to see environmentalism taught as a core subject on the Irish curriculum.

"It’s no surprise that so many other kids feel the same," she said, adding that the Climate and Nature Summit could be "life-changing and focus-shifting".

Next month's summit, headed by Fifty Shades Greener, The Irish Schools Sustainability Network and Education for Sustainability and supported by Kildare Wicklow Education and Training Board, is to coincide with COP26, the UN conference on climate change that will see leaders of the world converge on Glasgow.

Despite the high-profile nature of the Glasgow event, just 14% of young people were aware of it.

Taxes on flying

Almost 40% of Irish taxpayers would like to see taxes on flying as a way to mitigate emissions. File picture

Meanwhile, almost 40% of Irish taxpayers would like to see taxes on flying as a way to mitigate emissions, while 28% want higher levies on petrol and diesel. A quarter would be in favour of a tax on meat to reduce the size of the national herd, the survey from Taxback.com revealed.

At the same time, 28% want bigger grants and no motor tax for electric vehicles (EVs), while 26% want greater investment in public transport countrywide. A further quarter want grants for the retrofitting of homes to reduce household emissions.

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Marian Ryan, consumer tax manager at Taxback.com, said: "It’s an interesting finding in the context of the times we are in – most of us have gotten used to holidaying at home during of the pandemic, and it might seem like ‘a lesser hit’ to increase taxes in this area as we are using air travel to a far lesser degree than we have been. 

"Would we have said this two years ago? Much remains to be seen in terms of trends in air travel as we move into next year – will people travel en masse again for foreign holidays and business travel, or will passengers keep flights to strictly essential travel and continue to choose staycations, perhaps in greater consideration of the environment?"

The desire for better public transport was timely, she added.

"We suspect that people are reluctant to suggest a greater move to public transport until they see an improvement in the quality and quantity of what’s currently available.”

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