Blog Archive
Once more unto the beach
Posted on July 03, 2015 by Oisín Coghlan
Will you join us on the beach tomorrow to bury your Head in the Sand, just like our government are doing when it comes to climate change?
When: Saturday, July 4th at 11am
Where: Sandymount Strand (here by the car park nearest the city centre)
Some of the iconic images of Irish climate activism have been created in fun, family-friendly, photo stunts on Sandymount Strand with our allies in Stop Climate Chaos. Tomorrow we gather there once more: to collectively stick our heads in the sand to send the message loud and clear that the government's inaction on climate change is not in our name.
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange
Will you put your heads in the sand with us?
Posted on June 30, 2015 by Heather Mason
For those within striking distance of Dublin two events in the next 8 days:
We would love you to join us for a "Heads in the Sand" photo stunt on Sandymount Strand this Saturday 4th July at 11am.
Our government just isn't taking climate change seriously.
We’re only 5 months away from major climate talks that will decide the future of global climate action. Yet the government is about to finalize a Climate law that doesn’t even set a target for emission reductions by 2050. They have no Action Plan on how to cut our climate pollution to 2020 (the last plan finished in 2012) and they have made no financial pledge to help support communities worst affected by climate change impacts.
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange
So, who's this Ottmar Edenhoffer on the new Climate Council
Posted on June 12, 2015 by Oisín Coghlan
One of the most eye-catching names on Minister Alan Kelly's list of members on the Climate Change Advisory Council yesterday was that of Prof Ottmar Edenhoffer.
He's the Chief Economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research , and was co-chair of the IPCC's Working Group III on Mitigation for their recently completed Fifth Assessment Report.
He gave an EPA lecture in Dublin last October which I was at, which was very impressive. Particularly that his favourite slide was the one showing how much fossil fuels we had to leave under the ground. Click here to start the You Tube video at that bit of his talk .
The full talk is embedded at the bottom of this post, but here are my tweets from the night:
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange
Podcast on the new Climate Council and Bill latest
Posted on June 10, 2015 by Oisín Coghlan
I was happy to take part in the Irish Times Business Podcast today and talk not just about the challenge of climate change but the economic opportunties that the transition to a low-carbon future will bring.
PODCAST Climate change bill. + apple music @eoinbk @IrishTimesLaura @OisinCoghlan @irishlifecb http://t.co/UyoKxw5JwD pic.twitter.com/a3eHGE775n
— Irish Times Business (@IrishTimesBiz) June 10, 2015
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange
No Poolbeg Incinerator
Posted on June 03, 2015 by Guest Blogger
Craig Cox
For the past 18 years, a battle has been quietly fought by a small network of Dublin communities. Residents of Ringsend, Irishtown and Sandymount, under the campaign name Combined Residents Against Incineration (CRAI), have been fighting the proposed, and now progressing, construction of a massive incinerator on the edge of Dublin port. While the issue has been dominant in the mindset of these residents for nearly two decades, it has only occasionally crept into public awareness during that time.
Permanent link | Categories: waste
This could be our last chance to improve the Climate Bill before it becomes law.
Posted on June 02, 2015 by Oisín Coghlan
I've just heard that Minister Alan Kelly will debate changes to the Climate Bill with a committee of key TDs in just 7 days time.
Please tell Minister Kelly to strengthen the Bill.
Alan Kelly has told the Dáil he is considering possible amendments to the draft law. We need to make sure the changes aren't just window dressing, that they actually make the law stronger, by clearly indicating how much we plan to reduce emissions by 2050, by ensuring that the independence of the Expert Advisory Body is explicitly guaranteed and by committing to climate justice as a guiding principle.
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange
I'm chairing this Public Meeting in Buswells this evening ...
Posted on February 10, 2015 by Oisín Coghlan
I'm chairing what should be a great panel discussion on the Climate Bill and climate justice this evening, Tuesday 10th, at 6.30pm in Buswells Hotel in Molesworth Street, across from Leinster House.
Speakers include:
=> Lidy Nacpil - Convenor of the Philippines Movement for Climate Justice.
=> Niamh Garvey - Trocaire's Environmental Justice Policy Officer
=> Prof. Barry McMullin - Chair of the An Taisce Climate Change Committee
Nevermind us Irish NGO-types, it's really worth coming to hear Lidy. She is a hugely experienced international campaigner on economic justice issues and was International Coordinator of Jubilee South for 9 years. She continues to work on tax and debt justice as well as climate. You can see videos of Lidy in action here.
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange
Our great 2015 calendar is now available. And Happy New Year from all in Friends of the Earth.
Posted on January 05, 2015 by Oisín Coghlan
We think our 2015 Calendar is our best yet. Check it out here.
You can buy it online now for just €12.
It features stunning photos of Greenland by photographer Daragh Muldowney. He says of his trip:
"For me, it is a pursuit of beauty, a continuous search for inspiring visions of Nature. Greenland is a place of raw and abundant beauty, one of the few truly wild places left on our planet."
We're thrilled Daragh has given us 13 of his spectacluar images for our 2015 Calendar. You can see the full calendar here.
It's yours for just €12. And if you want a few for friends we'll give you 5 for €50!
Happy New Year from everyone in the Friends of the Earth office.
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • energy • christmas • 2015 • calendar • Lima • COP • UNFCCC
John Sweeney's final thoughts from Lima.
Posted on December 15, 2014 by John Sweeney
The pattern of These UN Climate Conferences is similar almost every year. Initial optimism gives way to deadlock. The clock is stopped and the conference is extended into Saturday when an agreement of sorts is produced under time pressure from departing delegates. So it was this week. When deadlock was evident on Thursday night the Peruvian President of the COP, Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal worked feverishly behind the scenes to rescue talks which had become increasingly bitter. A compromise draft on Saturday was again rejected mainly by the developing country blocs. US delegate Todd Stern warned that the entire UN structure on tackling climate change was at risk. The prospects of the conference paving the way for an ambitious deal in Paris in 2015 seemed remote.
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • UNFCCC • COP • COP20 • Lima
Al Gore, Alex White and the Peruvian Irish - Wednesday at the Lima climate talks, by John Sweeney
Posted on December 10, 2014 by John Sweeney
In the aftermath of the disaster that was the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009 (COP15 in the jargon, the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UN climate treaty), there were those that thought the COP meetings would gradually dwindle to insignificance as austerity and powerful vested interests conspired to de-prioritize concerns about climate change in many developed countries. Increased awareness of the appalling human costs of extreme events in the developing world and of the major economic impacts of such events in the developed world have however resurrected sensitivities. This has been further heightened by the growing scientific evidence of the IPCC and the championing of aspects such as climate justice by enlightened individuals such as Ireland’s Mary Robinson. European leadership during the dark days was also important in sustaining the faltering steps of international efforts such as the Kyoto Protocol. As the COP meetings of recent years have built an architecture which may yet lead to a comprehensive global agreement next year, so also have the annual meetings become foci for increased activity.
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • cop • unfccc • cop20 • lima
