Irish Examiner view: Majority of Europeans have come to accept catastrophe of climate collapse

The number of Irish people who believe that government must drive change when it comes to emissions and cleaner policies has jumped by a significant 26% in two years. Picture: Michel Euler/AP

The results of a Eurobarometer poll, one that consulted 26,500 people in EU member states is cheering and disheartening all at once. 

It found that the majority of Europeans have come to accept that climate collapse and the catastrophe that flows from it, is one of the gravest challenges facing our species.

This is cheering as it might, finally, lead to support for the kind of difficult measures commensurate with the challenge. 

It is also frustrating that it took more than half a century to reach that consensus, one repeatedly undermined by the industries with most to lose if efforts to avert climate collapse are to become a real, proactive presence in our lives.

The European Commission’s survey found that 93% of people believed the crisis was serious, while 80% believed it very serious. 

Just under a third of Irish people consider the crisis the single most serious problem facing our world, a figure ahead of the EU average. 

Three-quarters of us believe government should lead efforts to curtail climate change. The number of Irish people who believe that government must drive change when it comes to emissions and cleaner policies has jumped by a significant 26% in two years.

Just as the echo chambers of social media can offer false hope, so too can polls like this, especially if they do not lead to change. 

It took half a century to reach this point, but we do not have another half a century to change our behaviour to dilute the threat around this manmade crisis.