An Taisce welcomes Friends of the Irish Environment's Climate Case

An Taisce welcomes FIE’s legal action against the Irish Government on Climate

John Pierce, Chair An Taisce The National Trust for Ireland stated “An Taisce welcomes and enthusiastically supports the initiative by Friends of the Irish Environment to take a Judicial Review against the National Mitigation Plan (NMP) on climate action published by the Government in July last.”

As a prominent member of the Stop Climate Chaos coalition, An Taisce made a significant contribution to the joint submission prepared by SCC and the Environmental Pillar in the consultation which preceded publication of the NMP. That submission was severely critical of the draft plan and called for much more ambitious action and urgent and extensive emissions reductions to achieve the EU and UN targets to which we are committed.

The legal challenge asserts that the NMP does not meet the legal objectives of The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015. An Taisce shares this view and has consistently published critiques of the Government’s failure to tackle escalating emissions, particularly in the agriculture and transport sectors. See Notes [1], [2], [3]

The Climate Act, the Paris Agreement and our EU targets require us to take robust action to bridge the gap between our commitments and our collective polluting behaviour. The NMP was expected to spell out a coherent plan for significant emissions reductions over the five years of its operation. It signally fails to do so.

Furthermore Ireland has been seeking to weaken EU action on climate at a time when it it now recognised that Ireland – and other countries – are increasingly exposed to extreme weather events which are due to a warming climate.

ENDS

Ian Lumley, Advocacy Officer, An Taisce. Tel: +353 1 454 1786
Charles Stanley-Smith, Communications, An Taisce. Tel: +353 87 241 1995
email: publicaffairs@antaisce.org
An Taisce The National Trust for Ireland
www.antaisce.org

Notes

  1. Too Little, Far Too Late: National Mitigation Plan an Unmitigated Failure. An Taisce Press Release 14/03/2017 http://www.antaisce.org/articles/too-little-far-too-late-national-mitigation-plan-an-unmitigated-failure
  2. National Mitigation Plan – No Ambition, No Targets, No Success. An Taisce Press Release 17/07/2017 http://www.antaisce.org/articles/national-mitigation-plan-no-ambition-no-targets-no-success
  3. An Taisce welcomes CCAC critique of Government’s Climate In-action Plan; An Taisce Ptress Release 26/07/2017 http://www.antaisce.org/articles/an-taisce-welcomes-ccac-critique-of-government%E2%80%99s-climate-in-action-plan

About An Taisce

An Taisce is a charity that works to preserve and protect Ireland’s natural and built heritage. We are an independent charitable voice for the environment and for heritage issues. We are not a government body, semi-state or agency. Founded in 1948, we are one of Ireland’s oldest and largest environmental organisations.