Climate change is "unequivocally being caused by human activities", according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released in August of this year.This stark warning, called a "code red for humanity" by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, highlighted in particular that actions must be taken across the world to eliminate reliance on fossil fuels, and to take a range of other measures to tackle climate change.
The impacts of climate change are becoming clear in Ireland. Between 1989 and 2019, rainfall here increased by 6 per cent, and 15 of our warmest years on record have taken place since 1990. In short, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent. In response, the Government has introduced the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development legislation with a legally binding mid-term objective of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 51 per cent by 2030, from a 2018 starting point. Meeting these targets will require an average 7 per cent emissions reduction every year and some of the measures to achieve this are likely to be included in the State's first Carbon Budget when it is published next month.
The coming months with also see responses to climate change discussed at the UN Climate summit Cop26 in Glasgow. However, we would also like to hear your views on what you think can and should be done to try and respond to climate change, from small individual steps to larger state-level actions. You can share your views using this form.
A selection of responses may be published on irishtimes.com, and/or in print.
If you are reading this on The Irish Times app, please click here to access the form.
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