Behavioural Science and Climate Change in Ireland

As part of work on the Climate Change Advisory Council Ireland, I worked with council secretariat recently to organise a one-day workshop on the behavioural and psychological dimensions of climate change in Ireland. There were over 100 attendees from across many different organisations in Ireland with a focus on how to connect evidence from these literatures to public policy. The event saw talks from researchers from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), Department of Transport, Teagasc and University College Cork (UCC). Topics included public perceptions of climate change, climate literacy and misinformation, behavioural barriers to the adoption of low-carbon transport and energy technologies, and the role of fairness and policy design in securing public acceptability. Presentations also addressed demand flexibility in energy use, sustainable mobility, farmer engagement on mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity awareness, and the practical embedding of behavioural frameworks into policy development and implementation. A recurring theme was how to move from isolated pilots and surveys towards more systematic integration of behavioural evidence across Government and local authority decision-making. A highlight was a comprehensive keynote presentation from Lorraine Whitmarsh which set out the central role of behavioural change in delivering effective climate policy, drawing on evidence from the UK and international research. She emphasised that technological innovation alone will not be sufficient to meet emissions targets, highlighting the need to address demand-side behaviours in areas such as transport, diet and home energy use. The presentation explored systematic reviews of the effectiveness of behavioural interventions, the importance of fairness and policy acceptability, and the value of targeting “moments of change” such as moving home or generational farm transfer as strategic opportunities for intervention. A panel discussion emphasised the emergence of a strong behavioural science ecosystem in Ireland across agencies, departments and academia, and explored how this capacity can be better coordinated and embedded earlier in policy design.The document linked here summarises the event and talks, and details of the panel discussion that proposed various ways in which the many streams of very strong work in this area in Ireland could be brought together and integrated into emerging challenges in policy in this area. A follow up event is being developed for later in the year aimed at specific areas identified.