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Laughing all the way to the apocalypse: Ireland’s climate inaction

Climate Case Ireland in this morning’s Irish Times, on why litigation is so crucial if we are to make progress with workable climate policies. In the article, our spokesperson Sadhbh O’Neill was asked to provide a response to the historical outcome of the appeal of the Dutch Urgenda Case:

“This finding of a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights sets a direct precedent for cases like ours to succeed. We know how urgent the issue is, and the danger we all face. The IPCC made this very clear in its 1.5 degree report, and the Dutch appeal court recognised ‘the serious risk that the current generation of citizens will be confronted with loss of life and/or a disruption of family life’.”

She adds: “Unfortunately, our own Government continues to ignore this imminent, life-threatening problem, unable even to agree a modest increase in carbon tax. The political process has failed us all, so we have turned to the courts.

“The Dutch case has proven that governments have a legal duty to protect their citizens against climate change by doing their part to lower emissions. We intend to establish the same in the Four Courts in January.”