So farmers are broadly concerned and supportive of some forms of climate action. Why don't we see more climate-friendly farming practices?

We find considerable scope for improving farmer awareness of these practices, some of which may be easy wins:

10/14

Across a range of climate policies, we also see broadly similar levels of support across the three groups.

(There are some differences for specific policies, with farmers less supportive of reducing the national herd than the public (2.2 vs. 3.5-3.8), but little difference on most).

9/14

Which may be partly driven by the public underestimating how worried farmers are about climate change.
8/14

Almost half of farmers even cite climate change as one of the top issues they face (not sig different to the proportion who cite excessive regulation!)

The public also underestimate how many farmers struggle with negative perceptions of farming.
7/14

When it comes to concern, the distribution of worry in all groups is broadly similar. Though it looks like there may be fewer farmers at the 'extremely worried' end, the differences aren't even close to statistically significant (ps > .78).

(Note the distribution uptick at 1 though!)
6/14

Farmers do substantially worse on the plant-based item, and we have some evidence that this is a form of motivated reasoning -> the difference is driven by beef and dairy farmers.

But it's also worth noting that majorities of all groups are poor on dietary emissions.
5/14

Where we do find a difference is on understanding of what individual actions matter.

Farmers do slightly worse than the public (but again, if anything, the rural-urban divide favours rural).
4/14

We also find no difference in their understanding of what sectors are most responsible for emissions (with no improvement from when we first measured this 3 years ago.)

Concerningly, 1 in 3 farmers and the same proportion of the public don't identify agriculture as one of the big emitters

3/14

We find no reliable differences in knowledge of the effects of climate change between rural residents, urban residents and farmers. (If anything, rural respondents did slightly better!) 2/14

We see these mattering not just in the scientific papers but in Irish towns too - the Killarney Coffee Cup Project is a great example and one we highlight in the report. 6/9

Both labels increased sustainable choices compared to no label:

Binary label: +10% most sustainable clothing
Eco-score: +20%

Eco-score participants were also twice as likely to exclusively buy the most sustainable options (the bulge at the top of the yellow plot). 3/6

We tested two types of eco-labels in a simulated online clothing store with 1,200 participants.

Participants were randomised to see:
🟩 A binary label applied to the most sustainable products - based on the EU eco-label
🌈 A graded “eco-score” (for all products)
❌ Or no label (control). 2/6

With #BlackFriday sales in full force, the trade-off between cheaper clothes and the environmental harm producing them causes is even more hidden from consumers.

Our recent working paper tests whether eco-labels can shift consumers away from fast fashion. 🧵 1/6