The Climate Crisis Bill Ireland

This day last week Ireland became the second country in the world to give their support towards the Climate Crisis Bill.

Eamon Ryan the Green Party leader stepped in to move the Fianna Fáil motion as there were no Fianna Fáil members present in the Dáil chamber at the time of the proposed vote. Only six TDs showed up for the crucial climate emergency vote.

It was a welcomed motion from the opposition parties to unanimously support the Climate and Biodiversity Emergency Bill. The Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael, Leo Varadkar did not wait long to reduce the Climate Crisis declaration to that of “symbolic” and “a gesture”. He did continue on to say that the ‘gesture’ must be followed with real action.

Supporting the Climate crisis bill is a major leap in the right direction in the fight against climate change and it’s fundamental link it has to biodiversity, but until actions are put in place that reduces the Irish carbon footprint on the planet nothing has changed.

We now need to ensure measurements are put in place to help in Ireland’s fight against climate change. 

The amendment itself does not contain details about what the declaration will mean for Ireland, and there are no strict requirements for the government to implement as a result of the Bill being passed. The minister for Climate Action, Richard Bruton is to return to the Dail with a plan of action in the coming weeks.

Ireland may need to commit to some, if not all the following actions in the bid to help reduce our impact on climate change and in turn biodiversity.

• The introduction of Carbon Tax.
• Reduce the drilling of Fossil Fuels.
• Reduce or stop the use of single use plastics.
• Stop any new petroleum exploration licenses
• Stop peat extraction on the bogs of Ireland.
• Start using Sustainable transportation.
• Introduce new renewable energy targets.
• Build more wind farms and associated infrastructures to allow for the use of more sustainable electricity.
• Introduce Farm based tree planting to Ireland.

There are many ways in which we can reduce our carbon footprint and build a stronger, more sustainable economy for everyone, including the plant and animal species that are being threatened with extinction.

In order to do this, we all individually need to become Eco-friendlier but also encourage and push our government into implementing actions that support the Climate Crisis Bill sooner rather than later.

Read our Previous Article on how Ireland is the worst performing EU country in the fight against Climate change.

Or you might also be interested in our Article on Climate Change – Whats going to happen to the planet and how long do we have.