April 13th 2017 Ireland will fail to meet its upcoming emissions targets if the State continues to rely on current climate policies, a new report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found. The environmental watchdog said that targets for agriculture, transport, residential, commercial, non-energy intensive industry and waste are unlikely Read more…
13th April 2017 Solar farm legislation is “urgently needed” as councils struggle to deal with an explosion in planning applications, says Cork Senator. Speaking in the Seanad this week, Fine Gael’s Tim Lombard called for national guidelines to assist Local Authorities in dealing with planning applications for solar farms. Over Read more…
12th April 2017 The Oireachtas environmental committee is confident that the Bill to ban fracking will be signed into law before the Dáil breaks for summer recess, says the committee’s chairperson. Speaking this morning at the launch of a report scrutinising the controversial practice, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton said that the Read more…
12th April, 2017 Penalties for the unlawful burning of gorse are ineffective and do nothing to stop perpetrators says campaign group following a series of illegal fires across the country. Fifteen wild fires were recorded last month in counties Cork, Kerry, Waterford, Galway, Donegal, Louth and Mayo, eight of which were in protected Read more…
11th April 2017 The Oireachtas environmental watchdog has warned that it would be irresponsible to give fracking the go-ahead in Ireland and backed calls for a ban on the practice. The Joint Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment found that fracking opens up the potential for chemical spills, leaks and Read more…
10th April 2017 A rare honeycomb reef off the Irish coast may come under threat due to a lack of legal protection, according to the findings of this year’s All Ireland Coastwatch Survey. Coastal erosion, an increase in the discovery of dead large marine animals and alarming levels of nitrates Read more…
7th April 2017 The “tremendous” response to the public consultation on a microbeads ban outlines the Irish people’s growing concern with protecting our marine environment, says Minister Simon Coveney. Speaking at a Sustainable Water Network (SWAN) workshop in Dublin yesterday, the Housing Minister said that over 3,000 submissions were received. The Read more…
6th April 2017 Ireland has the least climate-efficient agricultural sector in Europe, according to a new EU report. The report, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, indicates that Ireland emits more greenhouse gas emissions per euro of agricultural output than any other EU member state. Read more…
6th April 2017 A national ban on fracking moved a step closer this month as an Oireachtas Joint Committee unanimously agreed to support a Private Member’s Bill on the matter. The Bill from Sligo-Leitrim TD Tony McLoughlin was referred to the Joint Committee on Climate Action and Environment for pre-legislative scrutiny after Read more…
April 4th, 2017 European politicians voted today in favour of a resolution calling for a halt to incentives for biofuels used in the transport sector that are linked to deforestation and peatland destruction. Groups across the political spectrum in the European Parliament (EP) gave their support to a motion calling Read more…
