If you consider yourself a climate justice advocate, then it is also impossible to be ambivalent towards the destructive nature of war. It is a simple fact that suffering of the most vulnerable people is an injustice, whether as a result of climate change or armed conflict.

The most ambitious Irish commitment to emissions reduction to date, simultaneously falls short in committing us to doing our fair share in dealing with the climate crisis.  

Less than three weeks into the nesting season, which is legally closed for gorse clearing, and Ireland has already experienced several serious incidences of wildfires in hills around the country. While the smoke may have cleared from the wild fires which ravaged the hills around Kerry, Laois and Wicklow the ecological devastation will remain for years.

  Economics and policy, a marriage made in the public, political and societal eye – is one that not even debt can tear apart. The two are inextricable , and the power dynamic within their relationship is an important one to consider. When fiscal priorities are the parameters that frame policies, the results may not… Read more »

On Saturday 21st November, the ACRE Project came together to construct a Bug Hotel in the grounds of its community house in Mullacreevie Park, Co. Armagh.

  Trade agreements are difficult things to discuss because they require such specialised knowledge and attention to detail. But they have such an impact on our economy and society that we must be alert to what they contain.

Perhaps the EPA report, which is unrelenting in its assessment, is the catalyst we need to become painfully aware of what is happening in our country as well as for a plan we can follow to change our collective habits.

  Amongst the news of the US election and of potential vaccines that will hopefully help end this twilight zone of social distancing we must not be deaf to the continuing reality of the climate and biodiversity emergency. Hurricanes, wildfires, and bog slippage , which are all part of the complex story of climate change… Read more »

The first step in this direction is acting on the promises made in the Programme for Government and definitively closing off all avenues of fracking importation and fossil fuel exploration in Ireland.

In an echo of the call we make to politicians here in Ireland to amend the Climate Bill, we now call on our MEPs and demand that they vote for an improved Common Agricultural Policy.

  In the midst of a global pandemic our perception of what is important in the world around us can shift. Foreign holidays pale when compared to the freedom of being able to visit our families, and the appeal of a healthy natural environment gains relevance when we have the opportunity to experience it more.… Read more »

  The Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice has made a submission to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on the ‘Agriculture Appeals (Amendment) Bill 2020’. With this submission we hope to contribute to the to the ongoing discussion of the importance of maintaining and enhancing the ecological integrity of our ecosystems through… Read more »

  This week saw Climate Case Ireland take to the Supreme Court to bring their case against the Irish Government for its failure to take climate action. The central challenge of Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE), a voluntary network of citizens bringing forward the Climate Case on behalf of the people of Ireland (https://www.climatecaseireland.ie/),… Read more »

  June 5th is World Environment Day 2020, which is happening against the backdrop of seismic global events including a pandemic, the mounting consequences of climate change and widespread protests against systemic and institutionalised racism, triggered by the murder of George Floyd by US police. Looking through an integral ecology lens allows us to see… Read more »

  This week is Laudato Si Week 2020, the 5-year anniversary of the publication of Pope Francis’ Encyclical  on Caring for our Common Home.

  The Covid-19 pandemic is not just a public health crisis, it also highlights and compounds layers of pre-existing social and economic injustices and inequalities that already exist in our society. There have been many analyses of how marginalised individuals and communities are being disproportionally impacted by this pandemic. The injustices of homelessness, direct provision… Read more »

  We are currently living through two global emergencies. Covid-19, an acute onset crisis, and the climate and biodiversity emergency, which is chronic. Both of these are urgent and require an immediate response.

Ireland has been awarded €12 million by the EU for the LIFE-IP PAF Wild Atlantic Nature project that will focus on the protection and restoration of its blanket bogs in the western and northern parts of the country. While this news suggests the prospect of healthy, better-functioning bogs, what does it actually mean for these… Read more »

It isn’t that this election has failed to become one about the climate emergency. In many ways, it is worse than that. It is one where our main political parties have failed to understand how to address the growth in social injustice and the interconnectivity of the issues creating the climate and biodiversity crisis.

Our series of guides for the upcoming general election will help you decide who deserves your vote. We cover the key facts about the issues, questions you should ask yourself, what to ask politicians who canvass at your door and how to interpret their answers. In this article, our Environmental Justice Advocate, Ciara Murphy pushes… Read more »

Australia’s bushfires are a devastating consequence of a combination of environmental and social injustices, decades in the making. For Aboriginal people, the fires are burning not only through their land, but also through their identity.