Forty environmental and justice groups and five Opposition parties have jointly called on the Government to publish this year’s delayed Climate Action Plan and accelerate efforts to cut carbon emissions.
The groups, under the Stop Climate Chaos banner, joined with Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, Labour, the Green Party and People Before Profit in making the call.
Their demands include urgent publication of the 2026 Climate Action Plan, which is now nine months overdue.
They also want the Government to drop plans to import LNG (liquefied natural gas), impose windfall taxes on energy companies and place a moratorium on new data centres until all electricity is produced from renewables.
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Other demands include reversing public transport fare increases, prioritising public transport projects over roads and providing supports specific to rural dwellers to help them retrofit away from coal, oil and gas.
They also want the Government to restore section 15 of the Climate Act to the pieces of law governing airport expansion, LNG imports and critical infrastructure where it has been disapplied.
Opposition parties rarely present such a united front – and these parties hold differing views on the carbon tax – but their climate spokesmen and women said climate change demanded they work together.
“I am certainly encouraging more unity on these types of issues,” said Pa Daly of Sinn Féin.
Jennifer Whitmore of the Social Democrats said: “This needs to be apolitical ... Every single party should be doing everything they can.”
Paul Murphy of People Before Profit acknowledged there were “significant differences” between the parties but said there were also significant areas on which they could work.
“All of our parties are backing the protest [on Thursday] about the public transport fares, which is a crucial example of how the cost-of-living crisis and the climate crisis don’t have to be opposed to each other,” he said.
“Good climate action also helps us tackle the cost of living crisis whereas the Government sometimes tries to put them against each other.”
Roderic O’Gorman of the Green Party said it was important to show unity before next month’s Budget 2027 when the Coalition had a chance to support households to switch from fossil fuels, which left them vulnerable to price hikes.
“The Government could do something really substantial [in the budget],” he said.
“We’re unique in Europe in terms of having a big surplus. What a legacy it would be to use a significant portion of that to protect Irish households from that vulnerability, not just this year but in the years to come.”
Ciarán Ahern of Labour said the joint action could be a sign of things to come.
“It gives me hope that there is a possibility for an alternative left-led government next time around because we do agree on all the big things,” he said.
“For example, the public transport fare hikes would not be going ahead under a government that we were a part of.”
Seán McLoughlin, policy officer with Christian Aid Ireland, part of Stop Climate Chaos, said the demands represented actions needed to ensure the Republic complied with its own climate law.
“A disregard for its own climate law and a failure to publish a new climate action plan has left this Government looking like a boat without a rudder when it comes to climate action,” he said.
Minister for Climate Darragh O’Brien has said the Climate Action Plan will be published later this year. He said it was delayed because the process needed to change in order to ensure more focus on delivering agreed actions rather than making new plans.
