New poll shows Fianna Fail and Fine Gael voters want MORE climate action not less

Ireland Thinks poll shows two–thirds of Independent voters want the same or more action

A new Ireland Thinks poll has found that 55% of voters want the new Government to do MORE on climate change than the last Government, compared to only 21% who want the new Government to do less. That includes 59% of Fianna Fail voters and 55% of Fine Gael voters. Strikingly, 41% of those who support Independents say they want more climate action from the new Government compared to only 33% who want less. Equally, there is no meaningful gap between rural and urban voters. Three in every four rural voters want the same or more climate action, 72%, compared to 81% of those living in cities.

Commenting, Friends of the Earth Chief Executive, Oisín Coghlan said:

 

“I hope the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael negotiators know that for every one of their voters who wants the next Government to do less on climate there are four of their supporters who want them to do more.

 

“The political and media narrative has suggested that with the Greens gone from Government, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael will revert to business-as-usual and not even try to meet Ireland’s 2030 climate targets that they voted for in the Dáil and agreed with our EU partners.

 

“I hope Michael Martin and Simon Harris realise their voters want more climate action not less. And if the leaders of the Regional Independents are telling them to cool their jets on climate action I hope they tell them that two thirds of those who support Independents want the same or more climate action.

 

“We’re seeing in Los Angeles right now what climate chaos looks like. We’ve seen it Valencia and we’ve seen it in Middleton. This polling shows that there isn’t any real political benefit to telling people you are going to slow down climate action. 

 

“And the reality of accelerating climate breakdown is that the only public benefit is from political leaders stepping up climate action and guiding our society through a rapid transition to cleaner, healthier transport, energy, housing and food systems.”

Notes:

 

1. The poll was carried out by Ireland Thinks on 10 and 11 January, with a representative sample of 1,206 respondents and a margin of error of 2.9%. Full polling report online here: https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/assets/files/pdf/ireland_thinks_poll_jan_2024_question_on_new_govs_appoach_to_climate_action.pdf