Climate coalition calls for Govt action to cut emissions

The Government is being urged to introduce significant additional measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

It comes amid warnings that Ireland is on course to achieve less than half of the reduction required under its legally binding 2030 climate target.

The Stop Climate Chaos coalition of more than 40 environmental, civil society and international development organisations also says the Government must urgently publish its delayed Climate Action Plan for 2026 and set out how it intends to close what it describes as a widening "emissions gap".

The call comes as the Dáil returns following its summer recess.

Ireland's Climate Act commits the State to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030, compared with 2018 levels, and to achieving climate neutrality by 2050.

However, the latest projections from the Environmental Protection Agency indicate that even if all currently planned policies and measures are fully implemented, emissions are likely to fall by only around 25% by the end of the decade.

The Stop Climate Chaos Coalition says this leaves an increasingly large gap between Ireland's current emissions trajectory and the reductions required under the State's carbon budgets and 2030 target.

Its new report, 'Ending Fossil Power', is being launched outside Leinster House to coincide with the resumption of the Dáil.

It calls on Minister for Climate, Darragh O'Brien, to publish the Climate Action Plan for 2026 without further delay and says it must contain significant new policies and measures capable of bringing Ireland back onto a trajectory consistent with its statutory targets.

The coalition has also criticised recent changes to legislation, which it says have weakened obligations on public bodies to act consistently with national climate policy.

Seán McLoughlin of Christian Aid Ireland said the failure to publish an updated Climate Action Plan had left the Government "looking like a boat without a rudder when it comes to climate action".

"It's not good enough to just shrug your shoulders about missing climate targets when lives and livelihoods are on the line, both at home and abroad," he said.

The report identifies Ireland's continued dependence on fossil fuels, rapidly increasing electricity demand from data centres and the role of the Irish financial sector in facilitating investment in fossil fuel companies among areas requiring action.

It is particularly critical of the Government's decision to proceed with a State-owned liquefied natural gas terminal, estimated to cost around €900 million, arguing that it risks locking Ireland into continued dependence on fossil gas.

Friends of the Earth says the new Climate Action Plan should instead establish clear milestones and deadlines for reducing dependence on fossil fuels while accelerating renewable electricity, energy storage and measures to reduce demand.

Its head of policy, Jerry Mac Evilly, said public bodies, including the Commission for Regulation of Utilities and Gas Networks Ireland, should also be required to ensure their activities are consistent with Ireland's climate obligations.

The coalition is also seeking restrictions on the continued expansion of data centres, which now account for more than 20% of electricity consumption and are projected to consume almost one-third of grid electricity by 2030.

Oxfam Ireland chief executive Jim Clarken called for a moratorium on new data centre connections until the electricity system has been fully decarbonised and additional centres can operate within Ireland's emissions limits.

Stop Climate Chaos says the return of the Dáil should now mark a renewed political focus on meeting Ireland's climate commitments, warning that the remaining time available to close the gap to the 2030 target is rapidly diminishing.