IRISH PEOPLE are more concerned about climate change issues than many other countries and they claim to have an extremely high recycling rate, a global survey has found.
The research was commissioned by marketing consultancy Accenture and involved 10,733 consumers in 22 countries including Europe, the US, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Russia, India, China, Argentina, Chile and South Africa.
Some 87 per cent of Irish people surveyed said they were concerned about climate change, compared with 83 per cent globally. And 96 per cent of Irish respondents claimed to recycle paper or plastic goods compared with 87 per cent globally. Some 93 per cent of Irish people surveyed said they shut down electric devices instead of leaving them on stand-by, compared with 87 per cent globally.
However, Ireland lagged behind in other areas, with 62 per cent saying they would avoid taking the car in favour of using communal transport, compared with 69 per cent globally. Just 21 per cent of Irish respondents said they used alternative energy such as solar or wind power, compared with 28 per cent globally. And 65 per cent of Irish respondents said they avoided buying goods requiring long-distance transportation compared with 71 per cent globally.
The survey also found people’s intentions did not always match their actions. More than nine out of 10 Irish respondents said they would be willing to switch to a new energy provider to help reduce the level of carbon emissions. However, only between 2 and 6 per cent said they had switched to a new energy provider over the past year. This compared with 10 per cent of global respondents.
Cost was cited by 88 per cent of respondents as the main reason for not switching. Lack of information was cited by 84 per cent of Irish respondents.
Head of resources practice at Accenture Ireland Aidan Gregan said he believed the findings reflected reality.
Asked if people might lie about recycling in order to make themselves look better, he said he did not believe this was the case.
The high level of recycling claimed by Irish people was not surprising, he said, as people were willing to change their behaviour when required. Mr Gregan pointed to the way people quickly adapted to the workplace smoking ban. “Irish people tend to have the right intentions,” he said.
The survey was conducted online, which also suggested that respondents were more likely to be truthful as they were not giving their answers directly to the researcher.
He said the research indicated that energy providers had an opportunity to differentiate themselves from their competitors by focusing on climate change issues and providing low-carbon efficient products and services.
