Blog Archive
Good Food, Good Farming
Posted on October 25, 2019 by Claudia Tormey
Through October Friends of the Earth were celebrating the Good Food Good Farming Days of Action as part of our Growing Together project by championing the change makers who are shaping a fairer food system here in Ireland.
Good Food Good Farming is a European civil society alliance that calls on decision makers to support for peasant farmers, environment- and climate-friendly agriculture which is tied into local economies across global food chains.
Permanent link | Categories: biodiversity • foodandfarming • growing together •
Fair Farming in Ireland
Posted on October 18, 2019 by Claudia Tormey
Supporting the launch of Talamh Beo!
In support of the growing community of sustainable growers and farmers in Ireland, Friends of the Earth joined the launch of Talamh Beo, a new grassroots organisation of farmers, growers and land based workers, launched outside the Department of Agriculture where they presented an oak tree to Minister Creed.
In preparation for the launch action Friends of the Earth hosted two film screening and banner painting sessions to encourage citizens to stand with small sustainable farmers and call on the government to support the vision of Talamh Beo - a living landscape where people and ecosystems can thrive together.
Check out Foodture and Talamh Beo to find out more on how to support your local, small, sustainable farmers in Ireland!
Permanent link | Categories: biodiversity • foodandfarming • growing together •
Thank you for standing with the school strikers!
Posted on October 15, 2019 by Aine O'Gorman
Between the 20th and 27th of September 7.6 million people globally took to the streets to demand climate justice as part of the Climate Strike.
In Ireland, 50,000 people took part across every corner of the island.
Thanks to those of you that donated to our Climate Strike Fund we create a resource pack of stickers, social media graphics, posters and more. We recruited a team of 15 volunteers who worked from our office to support the 60 people across the country organising strike support actions. And we were able to fund equipment on the day including the stage which was fully solar powered!
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • climate strike
What's driving the fracking boom? Spoiler: it's plastic!
Posted on October 07, 2019 by Claudia Tormey
Last week 4,500 people took the email action to tell our politicians that we don't want to import fracked gas!
Public pressure is working! On Friday we got the debate in the Dail, and now Government must undertake a review of Irish energy security before any further support for the Shannon LNG project can proceed.
We need to keep the pressure on, to make sure the review is independent and Paris Aligned. This fight is only beginning.
If you haven't yet signed our petition to Stop Shannon LNG (the terminal planned to import gas) please take action now and share it widely with your friends.
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • energy • waste
No Fracking. No.
Posted on October 04, 2019 by Friends of the Earth
We put everything into the campaign to fight against the LNG fracked gas terminals this week. And so did our supporters!.Thank you!
Permanent link | Categories:
The Race Of and For Our Lives
Posted on October 03, 2019 by Claudia Tormey
Busy time in the Coalition kicked off again in September as the new Dáil session began, and as thousands of young people across Ireland came together to mobilise as part of the youth-led Global Climate Strike on September 20th, members of Government, including the Taoiseach, travelled to New York to attend the high-level UN Summit on Climate Change in New York.
‘Preventing irreversible climate disruption is the race of our lives and for our lives’ were the words used by the UN Secretary-General in calling on all leaders to come to New York with statements on how they intend to increase ambition on climate action in advance of next year when the Paris Agreement will come into force.
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • stop climate chaos
What TDs need to know for the debate on fracked gas imports today
Posted on October 03, 2019 by Friends of the Earth
99% of the gas that would be imported to a planned termnial on the Shannon would be fracked in the USA. The Dáil is currently debating whether the project should get special EU treatment and subsidies. Here's what TDs need to know. (To download a pdf briefing click here.)
The Irish Government are planning to go to Brussels tomorrow to table support with the European Commission for a Fracking Gas Terminal in Shannon 'Shannon LNG' and the reversal of the flow in the existing gas pipe that connects us wiht Scotland, so that we could become exporters of fracked gas across Europe.
Permanent link | Categories:
De-Escalation Training with Extinction Rebellion
Posted on October 03, 2019 by Guest Blogger
As part of the 'Power-Up! Autumn of Action Training Series', we supported three young Extinction Rebellion activists to lead a training on de-escalation tactics in high-pressure situations of civil disobedience. Here is a short piece from one of the main organisers, Sarah.
Non-violence is one of Extinction Rebellion’s core principles, and ensuring that the environmental movement remains non-violent is critical to ensuring its success. A movement that is non-violent has a far greater reach and is far more inclusive than a violent campaign. Ensuring that non-violence is at the core of our movements also sends a powerful message: we are creating the vision of a society we with to see, one at which empathy and peace is at the core.
Permanent link | Categories: activism
Don't let the Government bypass the Dáil on fracked gas
Posted on October 02, 2019 by Oisín Coghlan
I really need you to email your TD today.
The Government is trying to lock Ireland into importing fracked gas for decades - WITHOUT ANY DÁIL DEBATE.
They plan to send officials to Brussels on Friday to approve special treatment for plans to build gas import terminals on the west coast, against the advice of EU experts, and before the Dáil gets the chance to discuss it.
I'll tell my TD that's not good enough
Yesterday Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil voted against making time to debate a special motion on the issue this week.
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • energy
What's gas got to do with plastic?
Posted on October 01, 2019 by Claudia Tormey
Do you ever wonder about the link between gas and plastics?
Well the first link is that the plastic industry is owned by big oil and gas companies including DowDuPont, ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron and BP.
The second big link is that plastic is made from oil and gas!
Despite our best efforts to refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle, plastic production is set to increase 40% over the next decade.
This is because fracking is on the rise and fracked gas is the raw material that makes plastic.
Want to learn more? Check out this webinar!
The Gastivists Collective are hosting this really great webinar series to dive deeper into the links between gas and plastic, and why we need to #KeepItInTheGround to #BreakFreeFromPlastic!
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • waste • sick of plastic •
