Category Archives: Sustainability
Between the AMOC and the deep blue sea
The Environmental Protection Agency hosted a public meeting as part of their ongoing series on climate change in the Round Room at Dublin’s Mansion House in late April, chaired by Ella McSweeney. I met the guest speaker, Prof Stefan Rahmstorf for … Continue reading
Posted in Arctic, Global Warming, Sustainability
Tagged AMOC, Antarctic, EPA, Stefan Rahmstorf
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Romantic Ireland’s dead and gone
They say that, given half a chance, most people would instinctively love and cherish nature. If that’s the case, then something must have gone seriously awry in Ireland in recent decades, given our collective neglect of our natural heritage, along … Continue reading
Natural-born killers wreak ecological havoc
According to the French Novelist, Victor Hugo, “God has made the cat to give man the pleasure of caressing the tiger.” It’s an apt description of these scaled-down apex predators. The fearsome toll they take on wildlife may come as a … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Habitat/Species, Irish Focus, Sustainability
Tagged cats, IUCN, Red List
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Progress through technology? Nein, danke
Every country has its deeply entrenched lobby group, and in the case of Germany, its massive motor industry pulls the political strings, exercising a negative influence on policy throughout the EU. Ever wonder why European regulations on emissions from cars … Continue reading
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Sustainability
Tagged Dieselgate, EVs, Germany, motor industry, T&E, Tesla
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Dire warnings falling on deaf ears
March saw the launch of the IPCC’s AR6 Synthesis Report, which brings together the three main strands, as well as other IPCC special reports, into a unified, albeit hefty, document. Despite its quite shocking conclusions, it made barely a ripple in … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Sustainability
Tagged Advertising, Antonio Guterres, AR6, Friederike Otto, IPCC
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To save our world, we must fall in love with nature
“In the end we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught”. These words were spoken at the 1968 General Assembly of the International Union for the Conservation … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Irish Focus, Sustainability
Tagged Anja Murray, Business Post
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Feeding aircraft while people go hungry
As the squeeze on heavy users of fossil fuels to be seen to be cleaning up their act intensifies, there is now a flurry of activity especially from the aviation sector behind promoting “renewable” fuels such as biofuels and synthetic … Continue reading
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability
Tagged aviation, Biofuels, Eamon Ryan, T&E
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A 15-minute walk on the wild side
There is no idea too moderate or sensible that conspiracy theorists can’t tar as a Marxist plot to turn us all into slaves in some dystopian new world order. Well, at least that’s the impression you might have gotten in … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Sustainability
Tagged Brexit, Business Post, cycling, Desmog, Oxford
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Oil giants struggle to wash blood off their hands
It may be making more money than ever, but the fossil fuel industry is rapidly losing whatever semblance of social licence it could still cling to. And despite the high salaries on offer, more and more young people are turning … Continue reading
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Sustainability
Tagged Bernard Looney, BP, David Horgan, Shell, Texaco, Valero
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Watch out for quick-fix climate techno solutions
Decades of abject failure to curb carbon emissions has left us in a perilous situation as global climate destabilisation begins to bite in earnest. Numerous techno-fixes are now being seriously explored, backed by some big names as well as attracting … Continue reading
Oh! What a Lovely War for fossil fuel profiteers
While 2022 may have been the year when full-scale war returned to Europe for the first time since 1945, with massive spikes in energy prices impacting tens of millions of households, it was also a great year for fossil fuel … Continue reading
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Sustainability
Tagged climate denial, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Texaco
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Bracing for the coming climate refugee crisis
The millions of people displaced by wars and conflict in the 20th century and in the early part of this century are likely to be eclipsed by a vast waves of forced migration in the decades ahead, as rising temperatures, … Continue reading
Ozone recovery offers sliver of optimism on climate action
Good news stories on the climate beat are few and far between, and offer occasional relief from the quickening drumbeat of bad news on the climate and biodiversity front. I didn’t have to be asked twice to file this piece … Continue reading
Posted in Arctic, Global Warming, Pollution, Sustainability
Tagged Montreal Protocol, ozone, WMO
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Step by step towards a lower carbon future
Here’s a piece that ran in the Irish Daily Star in the first week of January, my 10-point guide for those dipping a toe in the water of climate action in 2023. It’s not intended to be either definitive or … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Psychology, Sustainability
Tagged An Taisce, BirdWatch Ireland, Irish Wildlife Trust
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