In a week where Ireland was been ranked as “low performing” in addressing the climate crisis by the 2021 Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), Ireland’s Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan T.D. led the National Climate Delegation at COP26 in Glasgow where the following developments were announced:
- Ireland will scale up its support of the Adaptation Fund (see below) used to help the most vulnerable to adapt to climate change.
- An event on Tuesday hosted by the Government and EirGrid, highlighted the importance of engagement between Government, the energy sector and civil society in transition efforts to clean energy. At the event, EirGrid Chief Executive, Mark Foley and Minister Ryan unveiled the Shaping Our Electricity Future roadmap, a blueprint for radically transforming the country’s electricity grid.
- Minister Ryan launched the National Dialogue on Climate Action (NDCA), where he announced €60 million in funding from the Climate Action Fund for community climate action projects, and a new long-term structure to support public engagement on climate action. The NDCA programme will be delivered through three main pillars:
- Improving climate literacy through communications and education
- Funding, supporting, and enabling active engagement in climate action at a local and national level, conducting public consultations, and empowering the public to adopt more sustainable behaviours
- Capturing insights from engagement activities and conducting social and behavioural research to inform the Climate Action Plan and climate policies
- Ireland joined other governments to launch the Beyond Oil & Gas Alliance (BOGA), a first-of-its-kind alliance of governments seeking to curtail new licensing and undertake other measures to phase out oil and gas production in line with the existing Paris Agreement.
- The Irish Government has also announced €2 million to the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, a global effort that unites governments, civil society and private sector, committed to improving air quality and protecting the climate in next few decades by reducing short-lived climate pollutants across sectors. The coalition aims at cutting short-lived pollutants including methane and to reduce air pollution.
Other developments at COP26 today
Today was Cities, Regions and Built Environment Day and the following announcements were made:
LOADING...