“Ireland is vulnerable and needs to plan.”
Ireland is currently not on track to meet its first or second carbon budgets.
In a review from the Climate Change Advisory Council submitted on Friday July 21st, the government was warned that carbon emissions need to fall much more rapidly in order to meet the budgets for target periods 2021 – 2025 and 2026 – 2030.
This comes off the back of statistics that Ireland is now warmer and wetter than it was 30 years ago, and that June 2023 was recorded to be the hottest month on record by Met Éireann.
The review expressed the following concerns when it comes to Ireland’s climate action.
“The Council is concerned that the necessary national actions are not taking place or being enabled at the speed and with the level of coordination across Government and society that is required. In the spring and summer of 2023 a concerning series of unprecedented climate events have occurred.
“Multiple global and local records were broken, including the warmest daily temperature ever recorded on 7 July, following the warmest June ever recorded. Average sea surface temperatures reached unprecedented levels for June, and Antarctic sea ice reached its lowest extent for June at 17% below average.
“All this is particularly concerning as the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced that the El Niñoa has just taken hold. Ireland is vulnerable and needs to plan for this climate volatility, and for a future based on a significant and rapid reduction in the use of fossil fuels.”
The review found policies that have been proven to assist in their progress have not been implemented yet and that action isn’t coming quickly enough.
It also detailed how to reduce emissions in different sectors, including transport, electricity, enterprise, agriculture, and more.
You can read detailed report HERE.
Header image via Getty
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