Friends of the Earth Ireland via its involvement in the Citizens for Financial Justice European project commissioned an independent researcher to examine the role of public bodies in driving Ireland’s decarbonisation - focusing on the Electricity Supply Board (ESB), Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU).

The research found that, rather than driving decarbonisation, the ESB, GNI and CRU are actually undermining Irish and international climate targets. All three bodies address decarbonisation in their strategies or mission statements in the form of “low-carbon” commitments. However, our research demonstrates that their respective statutory authorisations (i.e. mandates) do not specify compliance with national and international climate law, are not fully aligned with Paris Agreement obligations and do not properly address principles of climate justice or sustainable development.

​​In fact, the mandates of ESB and GNI allow for continued and potentially increasing investment in fossil gas infrastructure. Their current investment plans plan to expand fossil fuel infrastructure and continue to subsidise fossil gas investment and usage. These plans are likely to ‘lock-in’ carbon intensive high emissions and undermine investment in energy conservation and renewable generation.

​​Reducing carbon emissions from the energy sector can only happen by cutting out fossil fuels. It is therefore very concerning that public bodies are showing no signs of doing this. It would be highly dangerous to rely on unproven false solutions such as Carbon Capture and Storage, which also come with a myriad of ethical problems and are vehemently opposed by climate justice movements. There is simply no room for continued fossil fuel investment in a world that is already experiencing severe climate impacts.

​​Therefore urgent Government action is now required to revise the mandates of Ireland’s public bodies so that they align with climate targets. The Government can do this by amending Ireland’s Climate Law, as part of the planned publication of a new Climate Amendment Bill within the first 100 days of the new Government coming into office.

We love Solar Power! It's clean, free and zero carbon, but in Ireland we have hardly any of it.

And the reason why has nothing to do with how much sun we get! It's because Ireland has unique rules that are designed to make installing solar panels REALLY hard. It is particularly hard for schools.

One of these rules is planning permission.  Schools need planning permission to install even one solar panel.  It's madness, and adds significant cost. 

For years politicians have promised to change this.  They even leaked a story to the papers in August, that they had done it! But they haven't. 

Today, the change is in the hands of Minister Peter Burke. 

Please email him today, and ask him to make good on the promise of many before him, for the Love of Solar. 

On April 28th 2020 both Leo Varadkar and Micheal Martin signed a statement saying "Both of our parties accept that as we move towards carbon neutrality, it does not make sense to build new large scale fossil fuel infrastructure such as liquefied natural gas import terminals"

Following this the Programme for Government was agreed, which committed to developing a policy statement to prevent the importation of fracked gas.

But the Government has done nothing to make good on this promise, and the threat is growing every day that the fossil fuel industry will start to build liquified natural gas terminals in Ireland. There are now potentially 5 terminals in the making, and plans to turn Ireland into the gateway location for the transportation of fossil gas though Ireland into the UK and Europe. As a country we were groundbreaking in establishing a ban on fracking in 2017, so to import fracked gas from abroad is tantamount to offshoring the injustice that communities subjected to fracking face. It would also add fuel to the climate crisis.
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Email your Government TD's and Senators today and tell them to Act Now to prevent LNG terminals - floating or fixed - in Ireland. 
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We are all sick of plastic. 

Everyday in Ireland we use more than 500,000 plastic-lined coffee cups that can't be recycled, more than 2 million plastic bottles that don't get recycled, and supermarkets foist more and more packaging on us. Meanwhile, micro-plastics are making the fish we eat sick, and if we keep going the way we are, plastic waste will outweigh fish in the oceans by 2050.

But there are solutions.

We must press the Government to adopt an ambitious Single-Use Plastic plan that embraces the circular economy.

Such measures must include the following:

• A Deposit Refund Scheme which would place a deposit on all plastic and glass drinks bottles as well as cans, which would be refunded when you bring the container back for recycling. In countries where they have a scheme like this recycling rates are as high as 98%. We had a deposit and refund scheme for glass bottles in the past. It's time to do it again.
  
  *We know producers and retailers are lobbying hard against a deposit and return scheme because they say it would be inconvenient or too expensive. Independent research shows the scheme would cost about 1c per bottle. We need to show that people really want to see action on plastic and don't want supermarkets and big business dragging their heels.

• Introduce a 'latte levy' on all single-use coffee cups and take-away containers to encourage reuse.
  
  *Your average coffee cup has an inner plastic lining, and therefore cannot be recycled. Many cafés have joined the Conscious Cup Campaign and offer customers a discount, double loyalty points, or like coffeeangel do, make a donation to Friends of the Earth every time someone brings a reusable cup.

• Enforce a ban on the most problematic single-use plastic items such as straws, stirrers, cutlery, plates and cups.

• Move away from compostable options as this still supports a throw-away culture.

• Encourage and reward the use of reusable items. There is a better way than throw away.

What Irish supermarkets can do

1. Offer more items without packaging, such as fruit and vegetables (without plastic trays, wrapping and nets) at competitve prices

2. Make their own-brand packaging easily reusable, compostable or recyclable, and use less plastic

3. Demand, through their purchasing power, that other brands they carry have easily reusable, compostable or recyclable packaging, and use less plastic

4. Blaze a trail in Ireland by implementing a plastic free aisle, as has been done in the Netherlands

5. Provide items in bulk, where possible, to reduce packaging

6. Allow shoppers use their own containers to buy dried goods, deli items, salads, fish etc - buying only what they need

Sick of Plastic is a national campaign in partnership with VOICE Ireland.