Tag: Climate Change

Immediate Release Fine Gael proposals to limit access to justice rights for citizens and environmental groups to challenge poor planning decisions is out of line with European and international human rights law, the Environmental Pillar warned today. The comments from Ireland’s largest environmental coalition come as the public consultation on the controversial General Scheme for […]

Immediate Release Ireland’s largest environmental coalition is deeply concerned by reports that the Government is set to row back on hikes in carbon and diesel taxes. It was widely reported in the media this morning that both the proposed increase in the diesel levy and carbon tax are proving to be sticking points ahead of tomorrow’s Budget. […]

  Immediate Release The recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly are the best foundation on which to lay the policy roadmap for real and lasting leadership in tackling climate change. This was the expert view that the Environmental Pillar outlined before a new 22-member Joint Oireachtas Committee to explore how best the State can lead on […]

The Government’s long overdue draft National Mitigation Plan is almost wholly inadequate to meet the climate challenges ahead, according to Ireland’s leading environmental organisations. The Environmental Pillar, together with Stop Climate Chaos, has outlined its findings on the draft Plan in a submission sent as part of a public consultation set to close today. The […]

More regular flooding, aggressive storms and drought will be outcome of watering down our climate targets.    New European Climate Change targets have been revealed today and they have made it easier for Ireland because of how emissions and carbon is accounted for. The Environmental Pillar, a coalition of 28 Irish national environmental NGOs, warns […]

The Programme for Government lacks the key clear goals we need to move our people and economy forward into a post carbon future.   The Environmental Pillar, an advocacy coalition of 28 Irish national environmental NGOs, does not believe that the Programme for Government goes far enough in tackling climate change and will force increasingly […]

The Environmental Pillar is calling on the government to bring in substantive land use changes to protect communities from increasingly frequent high rainfall events.

The Environmental Pillar are calling on the Taoiseach Enda Kenny to retract his statement that ‘climate change is not a priority’ and start to build a country and economy fit for the 21st century. The Environmental Pillar, an advocacy coalition made up of 28 national environmental NGOs, want the Taoiseach to accept that failing to […]

The Environmental Pillar welcome calls for the use of forestry on farms to balance carbon emissions from agriculture, in an effort to increase sustainability and protect livelihoods.

International shipping and aviation, huge sources of emissions, were dropped from last week’s draft Paris climate agreement. This is an incredibly backward step, leaving an emissions gap in the agreement equivalent to Germany and UK combined. Even more incredible given both sectors purchase their fuel tax free, and their emissions are set to treble by 2050. In […]

The Environmental Pillar welcomes the opportunity to input into the draft National Mitigation Plan and looks forward to further input as the plan evolves. The Environmental Pillar strongly welcomes and supports the Ministers commitment to transition to a low carbon future. We anticipate that this will be implemented in a clear, directional robust national mitigation […]

The Environmental Pillar, which is made up of 28 Irish environmental NGOs, welcomes the stance taken by the Pontiff in his teaching today. The encyclical entitled ‘Laudato Si’ calls on all nations to deal squarely with climate change, to phase out the use of fossil fuels and for the world’s rich nations to begin paying […]

Michael Ewing, Coordinator of the Environmental Pillar, recently spoke at the TTIP Seminar as part of the IMPACT Divisional Conference, on 22nd May, 2015.  The presentation emphasised the core issues surrounding TTIP such as the ISDS (Investor-State Dispute Settlement) mechanism, transparency and regulatory coherence, and the main environmental concerns, relating to climate change, toxic food […]

The Environmental Pillar condemns the decision to continue burning peat in power stations past 2019 and calls for a transition to sustainable jobs in the Midlands. The Environmental Pillar, an advocacy coalition made up of 28 Irish environmental NGOs, is calling for a reversal of the decision by ESB and Bord na Móna to continue […]

Fr. Seán McDonagh, SSC At 10 o’clock on December 1st 2014, Manuel Plugar-Vidal, the Peruvian Minister of State for the Environment and President of COP 20 – the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – opened COP20.. The Minister is a lawyer with 27 years experience working in […]

The Environmental Pillar calls on the government to help those affected by climate change in developing countries not just with aid but also by doing more at home to cut emissions.   The Environmental Pillar commends the government for its effort to support developing nations affected by climate change through Irish Aid but that is […]

The Environmental Pillar is calling on the government to end its disjointed approach to emissions targets and put Ireland at the forefront of climate change action. The Environmental Pillar, which is made up of 28 Irish environmental NGOs, is disappointed but not surprised by the European Environment Agency (EEA) study which found Ireland will not […]

In the early hours of Friday morning, EU leaders in Brussels agreed three targets for carbon reductions in 2030. However, the Environmental Pillar are concerned at the low levels of these targets which see a 40% reduction in greenhouse gases, 27% increase in renewable energy and a 27% increase in energy efficiency over 1990 levels. […]

The Environmental Pillar is calling on the Department of Transport to prioritise Ireland’s rail services as a way to address climate change. This comes on the back of a consultation document on transport investment, prepared by the Department, which discusses cutting rail services and ignores government commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Environmental Pillar, which […]

At the National Ploughing Championships 2014, the Environmental Pillar launched a report into how Ireland’s biodiversity can help in the fight against climate change. The report entitled ‘Ireland’s Biodiversity: Our natural ally in the fight against climate change’ outlines how protecting natural habitats is an important and cost effective option for government to store carbon and […]

The Environmental Pillar are calling on Ministers Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney to stop burying their heads in the sand over Ireland’s climate change commitments.  While the government has cut emissions in some areas the EPA figures released today show that the Agriculture and Transport sectors alone have set Ireland on course to miss our […]

RTE Primetime Tuesday 18 March 14 March 2014: Following RTE Primetime’s decision to give climate change “sceptics” equal representation on a show discussing climate change, the Environmental Pillar has called on RTE to deal with the reality of the situation. “This is not Public Service broadcasting”, said Michael Ewing, of the Environmental Pillar “Primetime is […]

22 January 2013: The Environmental Pillar expressed its dismay today at the European Commission’s disarray over climate policy.  Spokesperson Michael Ewing commented: “The split in the Barroso Commission on climate policy is worse than ever. Industry and Energy Commissioners, responding to fossil fuel lobbies, are stymieing agreement on Europe’s 2030 targets. The Climate and Environment […]

9 October 2013: The Environmental Pillar reacts with dismay to the news that Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2012 increased by 1% from 2011, as evidenced by today’s report from the EPA. We call on the government to deliver a strong Climate Change Bill with binding targets, and to re-evaluate the sustainability of Food Harvest […]