Climate plan and data centres; landlords break rent rules; and billionaires pontificating

Data centre development may be up for review as the Government published its latest climate action plan, writes Barry O'Halloran. The plan looks at the challenge of providing sufficient green energy to fuel an increasingly energy-voracious world. And noting that emissions from Irish business have surged 44 per cent between 2011 and 2018, it warns that a "dramatic turnaround" is needed if business is to contribute to national climate change targets.

In related news, offshore energy industry figures waned that the decision by Scandinavian giant Equinor to pull out of an offshore wind joint venture with ESB highlights the need for rapid offshore planning reform.

Even with COP26, in Ireland, housing remains in the headlines. Some landlords are not complying with rules restricting rent increases in rent pressure zones, the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) which regulates the sector has acknowledged. The development comes as letting agents question the validity of figures showing rents jumped 7 per cent in the 12 months to the middle of 2021. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports.

Dublin City Council has agreed a ¤2 million social housing deal sees Ireland's largest landlord Ires Reit selling the council seven apartments it owns at the nearby Elm Park development in lieu of providing any social housing at the former Tara Towers hotel site on Merrion Road in Dublin. Fiona Reddan has the details.

Alliance insists ‘end of coal in sight’ despite roadblocks by major producers

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Avant Money and EIB announce €75m green loans scheme for homeowners

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The Dubliner in London who aims to rival British Gas with his ‘AA for homes’ firm

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Ikea warns of price rises and lower profits as cost and supply pressures bite

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Only an increase in housing supply can deliver sustainably lower rents, writes John FitzGerald. He argues that rent control actually risks inhibiting housing supply over the long term. And the longer it goes on, the more addictive it is and the more difficult it is to unwind.

In corporate news, online takeaway delivery company Just Eat is to create 160 jobs in Ireland and open a new headquarters in what the company described as a "substantial expansion" of its operations here, writes Ciara O'Brien.

Meanwhile JP Morgan's Irish banking unit is to be downgraded to become a branch of its German operation as the US lender continues to simplify its European presence post-Brexit, writes Joe Brennan.

Kitman Labs, the Irish company using sports tech to reduce injury, has raised ¤45 million in a major new funding round to fund product innovation and increase headcount. Charlie Taylor has the details

Germany's next would-be federal finance minister has insisted that Berlin's new coalition government will remain an "advocate for stability" on his watch, opposing any further EU fiscal integration, infuriating his expected coalition colleagues in the middle of tense and detailed negotiations to form a new government, writes Derek Scally in Berlin.

In Agenda, at the end of the usual all-action week in Lisbon, Charlie Taylor assesses the highs and lows of this year's event at 42,000 gathered for a return to the in-person tech conference

There is an expectation that, because they are astoundingly successful and visionary at one thing (e-commerce for Jeff Bezos or industrialism for Elon Musk), billionaires must be worth listening to about everything, Mark Paul suggests in Caveat, as he questions their input, respectively, on climate change at Cop26 and on addressing world hunger.

Finally, in World of Work, Irish companies are accused of still failing those with disabilities in work with the State ranking fourth from bottom among 28 European countries when it comes to employing people with disabilities. advocacy groups say that even in organisations championing an inclusion agenda, only a few have targeted recruitment aimed at attracting those living with a disability

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