Tara Shine: Budget puts the State’s climate commitments in the balance

Tara Shine: Budget puts the State’s climate commitments in the balance

Tara Shine: Budget puts the State’s climate commitments in the balance


There wasn’t much talk about the less than five years left to 2030 in the budget 2026 preamble and post-match analysis. The fast-approaching end of the “critical decade for climate action” that Mary Robinson speaks of was not mentioned. Yet Ireland has only a few short years left to meet its target of halving carbon emissions. Ireland is committed to a 51 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 2018 levels. We have mounting evidence that it is far off course. According to the EPA, even with full implementation of all current climate policies, Ireland is…