Catholics more concerned about climate than Protestants, research suggests

Attitudes to climate change in Northern Ireland can be broken down along religious lines, with the largest disparity between Catholics and Presbyterians, new academic research has suggested.

Research from the NI Life and Times (NILT) Survey, run by the ARK social policy hub – a collaboration between social scientists at Queen’s and Ulster universities – found that Catholics were more likely to be concerned about climate change than Protestants.

The research found that Presbyterians were the most likely to be sceptical.

Catholics were found to be more inclined to think of climate change as (at least partially) a human-caused problem, to trust scientific experts and to support strong climate action.

The research suggested that within Protestantism there was considerable divergence, with Presbyterians more sceptical than Church of Ireland members.

The survey found that the more regular the attendance at religious services, the slightly higher the degree of scepticism about humans having caused climate change, scientists being trustworthy and the need for climate action.

The research also found that those raised in a religion but no longer identifying with it expressed greater concern about climate change.

The information is based on the NILT Survey of 2024, which polled 1,199 people including 383 respondents who identified as Catholic, 193 as Presbyterian and 144 as Church of Ireland.

The category “Others” included smaller denominations as well as non-Christian faiths.

The survey found that when asked “Do you think climate change is caused by natural processes, human activity or both?”, 62% of Catholics surveyed chose “mainly or entirely by human activity”, followed by 56% from Church of Ireland, 49% Others and 38% Presbyterians.

It also found that less than half (47%) of Presbyterians surveyed agreed that scientific experts can be trusted to tell the truth about climate change, compared to 75% of Catholics.

The survey also found that 80% of Catholics and no religion surveyed thought politicians should be doing more about climate change, compared to 65% of Presbyterians.

Among those surveyed, the people most “personally worried” about climate change were non-believers (78%), followed by Catholics (77%), Church of Ireland (69%), Presbyterians (53%) and Others (52%).

The research also suggested Catholics felt most “personal responsibility” to play their part in combating climate change (81%) compared to Church of Ireland (75%) and Presbyterian (68%).

Co-author Dr Jonny Hanson, from the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (SSESW) at Queen’s University said: “Climate change is a defining issue of our time.

“There is therefore an urgent need for engagement with religious communities to address climate change in Northern Ireland and beyond.

“Our research points to the need for moral leadership from religious communities, especially as the Climate Change Act is fully implemented in the coming years.”

Co-author Professor Gladys Ganiel, also from the School of SSESW at Queen’s added: “The research shows strong connections between religion and climate attitudes in Northern Ireland, highlighting the importance of considering faith perspectives in climate debates and policymaking.”

Co-author Dr Emma Soye, from the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics at Queen’s said: “The NILT data suggests that those seeking to influence attitudes on climate change in different religious settings need to engage with specific realities within those communities.”