Joint Committee on Climate Action to further examine the Citizen’s Assembly Report How the State can make Ireland a leader in tackling Climate Change

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Ireland ranks second-last of the EU28 in terms of ambition and progress on tackling climate change, according to a study by Climate Action Network due to our “stiff opposition to climate action nationally and in the EU”.  Our greenhouse gas emissions are increasing, moving us further away from the targets set under the Paris Agreement.  Not only is this harmful for the environment and the life we hope to leave to the generations to come, but it is also potentially costly in terms of fines levied for missing those targets.

In our National Social Monitor, August 2018, Social Justice Ireland took a brief look at Ireland’s emissions trend and proposed the following policy priorities to tackle the causes of this issue:

· Increase the rate of carbon tax.

· Increase the proportion of energy generated by renewables.

· Develop a workable definition of an approach to carbon neutrality for the agriculture sector and implement it.

· End subsidies for harmful environmental practices.

To read the Environment and Sustainability section of our National Social Monitor, Autumn 2018, click here.

For more analysis and proposals on Sustainability, see our Socio-Economic Review here.