Citizens are struggling to see how meeting the country's demand for beef from countries such as Brazil would be either beneficial to the environment or the Irish economy, a climate conversation report has found.

While citizens were aware of the pressure to reduce emissions from agriculture and associated those actions with the reduction of meat reared in Ireland, the report found that few believed there was an appetite to reduce meat consumption in Ireland.

They tended to believe that the demand for meat would continue to grow and that that demand would be met by meat being imported from countries such as Brazil - a shift, they believed, would not be beneficial.

Adopting a vegetarian diet

The report found that individuals tended not to believe that actions relating to reducing meat consumption had a sufficient impact on climate change in order to make the switch to a vegetarian diet.

Females, according to the report, are significantly more likely to say they have adopted either a vegetarian or Mediterranean diet (62% v 49% and 52% v 37% respectively).

The barriers to shifting to a vegetarian diet are predominantly motivational, the report found.

In 2023, the National Dialogue on Climate Action (NDCA) engaged with the people of Ireland about how they can help to meet our climate targets, resulting in the report which was published in June.

Former leader of the Green Party Eamon Ryan said that the report is a vital tool to help policy makers understand the needs of people and the challenges they face in taking climate action.

"Ireland is at a crucial point in addressing climate change, with a goal to become climate neutral by 2050 and to significantly cut down greenhouse gas emissions by 2030," he said.