Government hitting “snooze” on climate, says O’Gorman

Green leader Roderic O’Gorman has accused the government of “hitting snooze” on climate.

With the Greens in government swapped out for independents following last November’s election, O’Gorman has asserted that his former colleagues in Cabinet have put environmental issues on the back burner.

A report from the Climate Change Advisory Council has called on the government to “radically improve preparedness” for extreme weather events and to make Ireland’s infrastructure more resilient to the effects of climate change.

“If we do not put the structures and resources in place, we will increasingly expose people and communities to the destructive effects of extreme weather events, magnifying future costs and risks to society,” said Peter Thorne, chair of the Climate Change Advisory Council’s adaptation committee.

January’s Storm Éowyn brought the reality of climate change to Ireland’s doorstep, with the shortcomings in Ireland’s electrical infrastructure laid bare in the aftermath of the storm.

It took nearly two weeks to restore power to some homes that lost power as a result of the storm, which primarily affected the West of Ireland.

The Dublin West TD remarked, “already this year climate change is driving unprecedented weather-related damage in Ireland, but right as things are getting worse, our new government are rolling over and pretending not to hear the alarm in the room.”

“We have whiplash from how quickly the foot has been taken off the pedal since January,” he said.

O’Gorman criticised the government for delaying the 2025 Climate Action Plan, which per the Green leader, was “ready to go” before the election was called in November and has yet to resurface.

He criticised the very same government ministers he shared a Cabinet table with for “dragging their feet” on allocating the €3 billion Climate and Nature fund which was introduced by the Greens during their most recent stint in government.

“This money can be spent on upgrading our grid, making businesses energy efficient, insulating public buildings like schools and hospitals.”

A recent report from the World Meteorological Organisation, which confirmed that 2024 was the warmest year globally in 175 years of observations, should be a “wake-up call for government” according to O’Gorman.

“We’ve smashed through 1.5 degrees of warming, the impacts of which are already being felt,” he said, with July 2023 being the wettest on record as proof of climate change already having an effect on Ireland.

“Right at the moment that all the climate signs are worse than expected, our new coalition either can’t agree, doesn’t get it or doesn’t care. We can’t afford this kind of dithering.”