Government appoints new members to Climate Change Advisory Council

The Government has appointed four new members to the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC).

"A critical part of our transition to a low carbon society is the provision of accurate and timely advice. The CCAC needs to have a broad and diverse balance of skills and experience that will advise Government on both carbon budgets and progress on implementation of the climate action plan," Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan as the appointments of Dr Cara Augustenborg, Dr Morgan D Bazilian, Sinead O'Brien and Jillian Mahon were announced.

Dr Augustenborg is an environmental scientist based in University College Dublin.

Energy specialist, Dr Morgan D Bazilian is a director of the Payne Institute and a professor of public policy at Colorado School of Mines in the US.

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Sinead O’Brien is network coordinator at Sustainable Water Network, a coalition of 24 environmental groups working on protection and sustainable management of water and wetlands while Ms Mahon is a specialist in sustainable finance.

The 2021 Climate Act widens the scope of the CCAC, which has been given a new role in recommending emission ceilings in the setting of carbon budgets.

In addition, the Government approved the first of the two sets of regulations under the Act, which references UN Framework Convention on Climate Change guidelines and EU regulations governing carbon accounting. This governs which greenhouse gasses are to be included in carbon budgets – the first of which is to be introduced in coming weeks.