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MINISTER FOR CLIMATE Action Richard Bruton is set to tell a climate summit in Spain today that Ireland is determined to play its part in tackling climate change.
At the COP25 summit, which is being held in Madrid, Bruton will say that Ireland is implementing its Climate Action Plan - the Government’s plan to ensure Ireland reaches the 2030 emissions targets – and will announce that Ireland has joined the Carbon Neutrality Coalition to develop a roadmap for 2050.
Bruton’s trip to COP25 comes after Ireland was ranked among the worst-performing European countries for climate action, according a global report.
The 2020 Climate Change Performance Index, launched yesterday at the summit in Madrid, shows that although Ireland has slightly improved its position since last year, it still ranks among some of the worst-performing countries in Europe.
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Germanwatch, the NewClimate Institute and the Climate Action Network publish the Index annually.
In this year’s index, using data from 2017, Ireland ranked 41st out of 57 countries worldwide, moving up from the group of “very low” to “low” performers.
The ranking is an improvement on last year, moving up by seven places, after Ireland was ranked the worst EU performer.
Fianna Fail TD Lisa Chambers said the report is no cause for celebration.
“The report shows that the country is now in the ignominious position of being worst on climate action in western Europe and still among the top 20 worst performers globally,” she said.
“It is shameful and hugely damaging to our international reputation that this expert analysis again shows up Ireland’s response as being completely inadequate to the climate crisis.
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“It is noted in the report that major challenges lie ahead in closing Ireland’s emissions gap, meeting our 2030 target and aligning emissions with a 2050 net zero goal.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment said the report does not take into account its new policy arrangements for climate, adding: “This report, prepared by a German climate NGO, based on 2017 data and interviews from other NGOs, highlights the urgency of the work the Government are doing with the Climate Action Plan.
“The Climate Action Plan, launched earlier this year, will ensure Ireland will reach our 2030 targets and will put us on the right trajectory to meet net zero emissions by 2050.
“The plan have actions across all sectors of society and will have timelines with clear lines of responsibility.”
With reporting from Press Association
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@Pl O’neill: I’d love to know who would have heard of these adds before FG’s intervention, didn’t appear on my FB. Like you her sexuality has little to do with it , David Norris has done a great service to this country, She is simply out of her Depth.
FG complaint is incorrect.
There is no attack on her based on her sexuality.
In fact the website references her total lack of qualifications for the job and her lie about her business.
@ciar0: he mentions LGBT in every other sentence.
“Maria has made clear that her aims include to annoy those who, because of conservative beliefs, cannot approve of the homosexual lifestyle.”
“Maria has visited multiple schools promoting LGBT issues, and encouraging youth to question their beliefs and adopt new “values” with measures such as the raising of the LGBT flag outside the school.”
“Maria has declared herself to be a homosexual woman. She was in a relationship with another woman, TV producer Shauna Keogh, for some time after winning the Rose of Tralee. Last year, she stated that she was no longer with Shauna but was looking for somebody else.”
@ciar0: I suppose the third quote might be true but it’s also completely irrelevant. The rest is a smear campaign. There are plenty of great reasons not to vote for her, or FG (& FF) for that matter, her sexuality is not one of them.
@Karen Wellington: did I miss the bit where they said don’t vote for her because she is gay? A straight person could promote all those agendas and be canvassed agsinst for the same reason.
@SFNutters: the entire website say don’t vote for her and the reasons given include “The goal of most LGBT activists is that people would be coerced into accepting immorality as if it were morality and subsequently give up their own ability to distinguish between right and wrong.”
@Karen Wellington: where is the part that says don’t vote for her because she is gay…LGBT activists could be straight or gay or any of the other options.
@SFNutters: and yet he felt the need to mention that she’s ‘gay’ (inverted commas are Burkes addition, not mine) more than half a dozen times. If you can’t get your head around the circumlocution Burke’s using to obfuscate the vitriol in his rhetoric then good for you; you’re the better for not having understood his bile, but I’m not in a position to explain it to you as I have neither the patience or the necessary sna training.
Can we ban her ads? Do you remember tamagotchi’s, black Jack’s and fruit salads? Me too, now that we’ve established we’re roughly the same age vote for me because I’m groovy and down with the 90′s kids…..The bang of desperation off of her is overpowering.
Mother off God she was destroying an chance if getting elected all on her own. Her only policy seemed to be attack Peter Casey. Is this an effort to drum up support out if sympathy for her.
@The long walk home☘️: yes they did, but the initial targeting of her by Burke is the problem. People are choosing not to see this because of their hatred for FG
@Robert Phelan: so going after one candidate, chosen as a target because of her sexuality, is ok by you then? Just to clarify.
Next up, Ronert Phelan justifies bullying in the classroom and racism, because, you know sticks and stones etc
Facebook advertising does not have the power to influence elections. Maybe a few dozen would be swayed by what they saw on it. So pathetic to get all uppity over it.
@BreadBasketCase: I work in advertising and Believe me it does. Facebook is a leisure platform, people don’t consume content on it with the same mental barriers up as when they read a news site. There’s a psychological lack of distrust due to the nature of the platform combining your personal lives (friends posts, cute pictures) with news and advertisements.
People don’t even realise they’re being fed pre-selected content. It’s what makes Facebook such a profitable platform to advertise on.
It is up this evening, I got it in my feed just now, and reported it as a scam anyway. Disingenuous scunners (and for once, I’m not talking about Fine Gael)
This has Leo all over it. She’s a flop and he knows it, time to wheel out the sympathy vote campaign. Wait till you see how many fools fall for it and land us another useless MEP
Having met Maria on couple occasions i believe politics wont be her game. FG have sucked her in for cheap publicity. On another note she in stunning when you meet her face to face. Tv presenting could be a career choice.
It’s a terrible state of things when Facebook are deemed the moral decision maker between two standpoints – able to advertise a gay woman and her policies or allow political attack for same
Her appearance on The week in politics a few weeks back showed she has no place in irish politics. It’s amazing that you would seek political office and still be unable to answer the most basic of political questions!! Celebrity candidate if ever there was one. Seems nice enough though
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