59% in the North believe human activity is primary cause of climate change — poll

The poll suggests that public concern remains high, with 80% of respondents viewing climate change as a serious threat to human civilisation. File picture

Less than 60% of people in the North believe human activity is the primary cause of climate change, an opinion poll has suggested.

The Northern Ireland Life and Times (NILT) survey found that respondents have lower levels of trust in scientific expertise on climate change than those in similar surveys in Britain, Ireland, or elsewhere in Europe.

According to the poll, 59% of respondents believe human activity is the primary cause.

It shows that 86% believe human activity plays at least some role.

This is one of the lowest levels of belief in Europe, placing the North just above Slovakia and Lithuania — and below the British average of 90% and 88% in Ireland.

Despite this, the poll suggests that public concern remains high, with 80% of respondents viewing climate change as a serious threat to human civilisation.

The majority of respondents support stronger international co-operation and political action to address it, with three-quarters wanting to see local politicians elected in their constituency do more to tackle climate change.

The survey from ARK, a social policy hub, is a joint Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University initiative.

The NILT survey is an annual survey recording public attitudes to social issues.

In 2024, 1,199 adults gave their opinion on issues including criminal justice system, integrated education, adult safeguarding, skills and training needs, relationships with different communities living in the North, and gender-based violence.

The latest research on climate change was carried out by Katy Hayward and Jonny Hanson from Queen’s.

Other findings included:

• Men are less likely than women to feel personally responsible or support political action to address climate change;
• Younger people (18-34) are less likely to feel a sense of personal responsibility to address climate change;
• Across the Brexit divide, Leave voters are more likely to be sceptical and less concerned than Remain voters;
• There are no major differences between rural and urban dwellers on the topic of climate change, although the former are less likely to trust scientific experts on the topic.

Prof Hayward said: “The Climate Change Act (2022) marked a significant step for the Northern Ireland Assembly but whether it actually leads to the necessary political action depends in part on public demand to see politicians uphold their commitments.

“This NILT data shows us that not only are most people in Northern Ireland (82%) concerned that climate change poses a serious threat to nothing less than the future of human civilisation, they actively want to see local politicians do more to tackle it.”

Dr Hanson said: “This data is a reminder that tackling climate change is as much a societal endeavour as a technical one.