We have all seen the price of petrol and diesel soar over the past month, with blockades at pumps, slow moving haulier convoys and tractor protests. Some garages have limited fuel supplies per vehicle and some pumps have run out of fuel. The cost of home heating is reported to have increased by up to 20 per cent since the start of the Iran war.

Some countries have been much less affected by global threats to the supplies of energy. Iceland, for example, runs entirely on renewable energy. Approximately 75.5 per cent of the country’s electricity comes from hydropower, which is their primary source of electricity, the other 24.5 per cent coming from geothermal energy. As early as 2022, 60 per cent of vehicles in Iceland ran on electricity, and electricity costs remain stable and low.

Paraguay produces all of its electricity from hydropower. Nepal uses hydropower for 98.6 per cent of its total electrical output, solar energy producing the remaining 1.4 per cent. Nepal is about 2.11 times the size of Ireland in area and has a population of 29.6 million people, compared to Ireland‘s 5.3 million people.

Ethiopia, which is about 16 times bigger than Ireland, with a population of 135 million, produces 96 per cent of its electricity from hydropower, with wind energy making up the remaining four per cent.

Certainly, energy independence is not only a possibility but can be demonstrated in countries across the globe to be a reality. 

Electricity prices in Ireland are among the highest in Europe, with further increases of four to nine per cent warned for summer 2026. This is due to the reliance on imports of gas and oil to supply electricity and the global pressures on supplies of those commodities. 

Ireland’s government has however committed to ensuring energy is affordable, sustainable, and secure and that Ireland will move from an oil and gas-based energy system to an electricity-led system, maximising renewable energy and being linked into Europe’s energy systems.

EirGrid, a Private Limited Company owned by the Irish Government is responsible for planning, managing and developing Ireland’s high-voltage electricity grid. This high-voltage grid is connected to the low voltage distribution system managed by ESB Networks who are also government-owned and who supply power directly to homes and business around the country. 

Despite objections from rural Irish residents, the transition to sustainable energy is focused almost entirely on large wind farms feeding into the already existing centralised electricity grid. Research shows however that decentralised energy systems are the most efficient solution available to enable low-carbon energy transitions. 

Decentralised energy systems use several different technologies such as small-scale wind turbines, geothermal, hydropower and solar, giving flexibility to meet energy demand from industries, households, and state enterprises such as hospitals, universities and public buildings. 

Almost all countries achieving close to 100 per cent renewable energy supply do so by using digitalised, smart, decentralised supply systems that operate at building scale or block scale.

Decentralisation creates hundreds or thousands of tiny, localised electricity-generating systems attached to homes, communities or businesses. Taking advantage of localised environmental conditions to share power, they provide electricity locally feeding excess back into the power grid for distribution elsewhere.

To do this however would require that Ireland rethink the policy that favours a centralised system which suffers a five per cent loss of power, as that power is transported long distances. Decentralisation would need a greater mix of energy production technologies to be used and businesses that are extremely heavy on energy, such as data centres, would have to become part of the solution rather than part of the problem. 

Currently data centres use about 23 per cent of Ireland’s total energy consumption. This is expected to rise to 35 per cent by 2030; however they also provide considerable financial support to Ireland’s green energy sector, by underpinning the development of new renewable generation that will help to achieve the target of 70 per cent electricity from renewables by 2030. 

The Irish Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) created a policy aligning data centre growth with decarbonisation. It requires planning applications to demonstrate on-site or nearby renewable energy generation. New data centres connecting to the electricity network are required to provide electricity generation and/or storage capacity either onsite or in local proximity. This electricity generation and storage must match the requested data centre maximum demand capacity and will be required to participate in the wholesale electricity market thus supporting the overall system.

An article on science direct.com ‘Ten questions concerning decentralised energy systems governance’ states that “If we are to succeed with achieving the ambitious low-carbon energy transition targets embraced by many nation-states, cities and corporations, electrification and development of more decentralised energy systems will have to play a large role, and their governance is bound to become a matter of increased attention and interest. A decentralised energy system implies fundamental changes in electricity sector governance towards devolution of control, planning, and operation of electricity system functions (production, sales, distribution, and grid balancing) from a few central actors to include also a great many small-scale actors at more localised levels Typically, decentralised energy systems involve shorter-distance supply from small generation units owned by active consumers (individually or as energy communities that may share a microgrid, constitute a positive energy district (PED) or positive energy neighbourhood (PEN), and may also assist in solving local grid operation challenges by offering flexibility in supply and demand. A prerequisite for detecting and tackling local grid congestion challenges and flexibilities in consumption and production towards solutions is the provision of fine-grained information based on digitalisation of the grid through grid company installation of smart meters and sensors.”

Ireland has doubled wind energy capacity over the past 10 years and solar is now Ireland’s third largest source of indigenous electricity generation. It just squeezes in to the list of top ten countries leading the way with wind and solar penetration. 

If, like the Danish government, Ireland required all new wind projects to be between 20 and 50 per cent community-owned, citizens, especially those in rural areas, would immediately benefit financially from the shift to renewables. If this shift also focused on decentralised systems, then community acceptance could facilitate a rapid transition to energy independence and security pushing towards renewable energy targets for 2030 and minimising the threat that comes from geopolitical events triggered by other countries. The Irish government has after all, committed to ensuring energy is affordable, sustainable, and secure.

In the early 19th century copper mining was prevalent across West Cork with miners brought in from Cornwall in the early part of the century to supplement the workforce. While back then landowners owned the mineral rights below the surface of their land and no government licence was needed to mine copper, today a government licence issued by The Geoscience Regulation Office (GSRO) is needed to even prospect for minerals. At the end of 2025, a total of 18 Prospecting Licences (PLs) were issued in West Cork – to ‘Aurum Discovery Ltd’. These licenses each relate to a portion of land outlined and mapped in the GSRO document. While copper is one of the most useful metals in the push for clean energy, mining it can cause tremendous destruction of the environment, therefore Innovative solutions are needed and are being developed writes Fiona Hayes.

Copper increased in industrial importance in the 19th century with the invention of the electric battery in 1800 and electromagnets two-and-a-half decades later. Commercial telegraph introduced in 1837 further increased reliance on copper as a conductor and traditional telephone landlines continue to be made of copper wires today. Indeed, a single iPhone contains around 6gms of copper.

In West Cork, copper mining started in Allihies in 1813, Ballycumisk and Horse Island in 1814, then opened in Balllydehob, Cappagh, Gortavallig, Kilrohane, Bantry, Scart, Derryinagh, Dereenlomane, Mount Gabriel, Dunbeacon, Gortycloona and Skeagh. 

With ‘Aurum Discovery Ltd’  was granted a licence in 2025 to prospect in West Cork, it’s important to note that this doesn’t imply a licence to mine for minerals. Such a licence would require a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to support applications to the Local Authority for Planning Permission and to the Environmental Protection Agency for an Integrated Pollution Control or Industrial Emissions Licence. A period of time would then be allowed for statutory consultation with a wide range of Government bodies and public scrutiny of the EIS along with public comment.

There have been prospecting licences continuously covering these geographical areas for at least the past decade. Prior to Aurum being granted licence on these particular land blocks, they were held by ‘Adventous Exploration Limited’ (AEL), who engaged Aurum to manage exploration projects and provide technical expertise. In fact (AEL) held 100 per cent of the 114,000 hectares West Cork licence block. 

AEL have a Joint Venture Agreement with the Canadian-based mining company ‘First Quantum Minerals’ and have identified areas for secondary follow up prior to potential drill testing of targets and exploration of base metals. First Quantum Minerals specialise in copper mining. 

The areas of West Cork being considered occur along up-plunge folds of land between the Sheep’s Head and Glandore. The initial investigations have identified sediment-hosted copper and silver (Cu-Ag) deposits comparable to several other world-class sites. To determine whether these sites would yield a profitable level of mineral extraction, it is likely that further work, including some drilling, will need to be done. This will require landowner permission and Environmental Screening Assessment. 

The GSRO considered 48 submissions opposing the grant of these licences, however practically all the submissions focused on mining rather than prospecting; thus were discounted as reasons for withholding the licences. 

Mining, rather than prospecting however, requires three separate consents obtained from three different agencies: Planning permission from the relevant Local Authority; An Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) or an Industrial Emissions (IE) Licence from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These licences contain strict conditions on how a mine must operate to protect the environment from pollution; A mining lease or licence issued by the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment .

If a mining licence were to be considered, a public consultation period would be published in a local newspaper and at experience.arcgis.com.

All of this however, raises serious questions for people interested in environmental protection and climate change. 

The prospecting company is interested in copper because it is one of the most useful metals in the push for clean energy. Renewable energy systems use four to six times the amount of copper as do fossil fuel or nuclear plants. A photovoltaic solar power plant contains approximately 5.5 tons of copper per megawatt of power generation. A single 660-kW turbine is estimated to contain some 800 pounds (350 kg) of copper. Industry is predicting a 70 per cent increase in copper mining to meet the 2050 climate decarbonisation goals.

Mining copper however can pollute the atmosphere with dust and contaminate the water table with chemicals used to extract the mineral. Some modern mines fear having to pump contaminated wastewater around the mine forever to prevent it entering the water table.

Innovative solutions are needed. As materials scientist Prof Mary Ryan of Imperial University, London said, “The world needs to electrify its energy systems, and success will absolutely depend on copper. The metal is going to be the biggest bottleneck in this process.”

Prof Mary Ryan heads up the Rio Tinto Centre for Future Materials opened in 2024 and based at Imperial College London, in partnership with several international university groups. 

The centre’s first project is looking for responsible ways to source copper. Of course, ensuring improved recycling of copper from batteries, cables and so on will be important, but the centre is looking at questions such as, can the mineral be extracted without disturbing the rocks at all? For example, could viruses and bacteria be used to harvest copper?

The team have also been searching for underground sites where copper-rich brines, created by volcanic systems are still in liquid form. The volcanic systems could provide geothermal energy to pump the brine to the surface via boreholes. Sites in New Zealand and Japan have been identified as possibilities for this technology.

Franklin Keck and Ion Ioannou co-founded the company RemePhy Technologies, a spinout from Imperial University PhD research. RemePhy are pioneering the use of GM technology to develop plant-bacterial systems that have an enhanced ability to extract metal from the soil. They state, “We’re building plant–microbe systems that clean contaminated soil and recover critical metals as the plants grow. Thereby reducing disruption, versus dig-and-dump approaches; and unlocking stranded brownfield and mining-legacy sites.”

The Irish Government, in response to the latest energy crisis precipitated by war between USA/Israel and Iran, has stated it will pursue energy sovereignty focusing more on renewables. This will require copper.

Possibly, technical solutions such as the ones RemePhy are developing, hold the key to finding the quantities of copper we need for this transition. Perhaps new prospecting licences will not lead to new mines but, by using innovative technologies, will nevertheless enable our 80 per cent renewable electricity target by 2030. Let’s hope so.

I have heard many conversations indicating that people are questioning whether these climate targets are achievable and questioning why it is always the public who must make difficult changes rather than the corporate world. It is very difficult for example, for people in rural Ireland to rely on public transport. However, under EU regulations, corporations are legally required to reduce their carbon footprint producing detailed reporting and reduction plans. The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) ‘requires’ companies, for example those in aviation or IT who have high emissions, to buy carbon allowances to offset their high emissions.

These allowances, known as carbon credits, are part of the cost of doing business. 

The EU sets a cap on the total emissions allowable and any emissions beyond that must be offset by purchasing carbon credits. This creates a tradeable market for carbon credits, pushing companies into investing in clean energy technologies so that they do their best to stay under the cap, only purchasing credits where they are unable to do so.  

Emissions are but one aspect of reducing greenhouse gases though. As well as reducing our carbon footprint, it is estimated that we need to remove 10 gigatons of carbon from the atmosphere on an annual basis. Currently we remove roughly 200 million tons and so this removal needs to be ramped up dramatically. Carbon sequestration refers to removing carbon from the atmosphere and locking it into structures on earth. This concept is behind the encouragement to plant trees that we regularly come across. Carbon is removed from the atmosphere naturally by trees and other plants and is stored in their structure. This carbon sequestration can be part of the carbon market with companies purchasing carbon credits by investing in improved and new areas of forest and woodland that will sequester carbon. 

Of course other natural structures, for example coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, salt marshes, seagrass beds and phytoplankton capture CO2, which then sinks as organic matter and shells, but there is a lack of data on natural carbon sequestration, which makes including it into the modelling difficult.

This led the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London to recently conduct a review of the available scientific literature to assess how much carbon forests could feasibly absorb. They estimate that if we absolutely maximised the amount of vegetation all land on Earth could hold, we would sequester enough carbon through forest and woodland to offset about ten years of greenhouse gas emissions at current rates.

To maximise our carbon sequestration we need to ensure we protect ecosystems both on land and in the oceans and we need to improve the understanding of and respect for how to enable these ecosystems to survive and thrive. We need to sanctify the importance of their health and take care of them blocking deforestation; and we need to increase the volume of sequestration by reforesting in suitable areas.

Of course, for companies to invest in carbon credits provided for example, by woodland we need to know how much carbon any given area of woodland or forest is taking out of the atmosphere.

On December 18, 2025, the Centre of Excellence for Climate Action and Sustainability (CECAS) hosted an important meeting that brought together landowners, community representatives and environmentalists to work together towards managing Irelands natural resources in a way that will empower Irish Communities through managing carbon credits. 

CECAS has been chosen to partner ‘Natural Resources Institute Finland’, ‘Finland Oulu University of Applied Sciences’, and the ‘Agricultural University of Iceland’ in a three-year project focused on improving forest carbon capture and biodiversity.

The project will produce carbon assessment tools and train people in how to use them, how to manage their woodland using ecosystem-based approaches to improve carbon capture; and how to enter the carbon credits market in order to fund further forestry and woodland projects.

The meeting, the third of its kind hosted by CECAS this year, attracted small-scale landowners, foresters, experts in the carbon market arena, government representatives and community representatives who can see that organising community cooperatives could benefit from the carbon market income, whilst helping their communities to build climate resilience. 

This is something that many rural communities, located in remote areas, inaccessible by public transport could contribute in the effort to reduce greenhouse gases. 

This work is complex and in its infancy. The meeting at Myross Woods house included a live demonstration measuring carbon capture by using drones to survey woodland. Using a Scan Mapper carried by the drone, the team are able to measure the number, density, height and variety of trees growing in an area. This scanning provides accurate data needed to bring transparency to carbon measurements in a way that can enable the trade to be regulated.

By repeating the data collection on the same sites it is possible to quantify the amount of carbon sequester created above ground by the trees as the forests grow.

The project will also help to build a replicable framework for woodland and forest management and provide pilot sites demonstrating scalable solutions. 

This workshop on December 19 demonstrated the scale and importance of this project as an EU initiative. Attendees from many different backgrounds raised hopes and questions. They identified areas where there is a massive need for education and knowledge sharing and areas where simply not enough knowledge is yet available.

That West Cork is a vital part of this international development is very exciting and will give people in Rural Ireland a way of positively contributing to the climate change reduction effort.

For more information on how you can become involved contact the project manager Ana Ospina at ana@greenskibbereen.ie.

In June 2025 The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), recommended a zero-catch level for cod, haddock, whiting, and herring stocks throughout 2026 in the Celtic Seas. ICES is a scientific body that operates across 20 governments and gives impartial evidence on the state of and sustainable use of seas and oceans. They noted that fish stocks are in decline due to reduced recruitment in recent years. Recruitment refers to small juvenile fish transitioning to larger mature fish.

There is a large variety of larger fish that feed on sprat. Indeed cod, haddock and whiting, all currently in decline feed on sprat. These little silvery fish that make up 30 per cent of the diet of whiting are a vital part of keeping our coastal waters stocked to keep our fisheries healthy for future generations.

The Irish Government has issued a new policy directive, that from October 1, 2025, vessels over 18 metres, fishing for sprat within the six nautical mile zone, will require authorisation and will be subject to a quota limit of 2,000 tonnes. From October 1, 2026, all vessels over 18 metres, including those targeting sprat, will be fully excluded from trawling inside the six nautical mile zone. This marks a significant change in the management of Ireland’s inshore fisheries.

The future of Ireland’s fisheries is on a knife edge. If cod, haddock, whiting and herring don’t recover, other fish stocks will become stressed. In the meantime, the Irish inshore fishing industry needs help to stay afloat. It needs financial help during times of stock recovery, and it needs better informed policy making by government. As data collection improves, management strategies that use simulation models can enable evaluation of different restrictions, ensuring that policy directives are based on ongoing scientific data.

Sprat, a tiny fish, lives only five years and looks much like a juvenile herring. It spends much of its life in the open waters but at certain times of the year comes into bays to spawn in shoals. This is when large trawlers can net the greatest numbers. Younger sprat produce significantly less spawn than mature sprat and the trawl nets catch all, no matter age or size.

Supporters of the current government directive on the six-mile limit, point to a falling biomass of sprat and a reduction in the age at capture and suggest the government directive does not go far enough. They believe a complete pause in fishing for sprat is necessary, until the scientific evidence is available to regulate Sprat sustainably. With ICES recommending zero catch limits for some species and government restrictions on sprat, some fishermen fear their livelihood disappearing. 

The European Commission uses ICES recommendations to set Total Allowable Catch (TAC) limits, which are then shared among EU member states through national fishing quotas. The Irish government is responsible for distributing their quota share among the national fishing fleets and for ensuring that their quotas are not overfished. 

In Ireland, Sprat is not fished for human consumption but for grinding up to feed fish farms and create animal feed. Whilst ICES makes recommendations, no TAC is set for Sprat. There is no limit on catch, nevertheless this important little fish, which forms the foundations that hold up much of the predator web is creating a massive controversy and rift between fishermen and ecologists.  

In October 2023, a scientific paper which looked at ‘Developing management plans for sprat (Sprattus sprattus) in the Celtic Seas’ was published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.

This paper acknowledged the complexities of making management decisions for fishing of a single species of short-lived, fast-growing fish that is subject to variation in biomass because of multiple environmental factors. The authors acknowledged overfishing as a possible cause of stock depletion whilst investigating a framework to include strategic and tactical solutions. They argue that any strategic solution must follow an Ecosystems Approach to fisheries and note the need to develop Ecological Reference Points (ERP) to be included into computer-generated management strategy evaluations. These would simulate different situations to test alternative policy directives.

One of their main inquiries asked if the current ICES advice framework results in maintaining forage fish stocks at levels that satisfy the needs of natural predators. As many of the fish caught for human consumption rely for their existence on forage fish such as sprat, this would appear to be a vital question. 

ICES advice for Celtic Seas Sprat was first given in 2012 and recommended no increase in catch. Applying a precautionary buffer to safeguard stock, a 20 per cent reduction in catch was advised in 2013, and has been applied every three years since. 

Stocks of small fish at the bottom of the food chain can exhibit significant fluctuations even in the absence of fishing pressure and this annual advice, given despite a lack of data and using an oversimplified advice framework does not answer the question “how much can be safely harvested while leaving sufficient for the wider ecosystem?” Advice on Sprat catch is given using either a biomass model, estimating numbers that can be harvested sustainably based on historical data; or a model based on the actual harvest from previous years.  

Sprat disperse through the water column only coming together to spawn, so despite acoustic surveys that cover portions of the stock, the total biomass is unknown. The numbers used are very much an estimate and assume that fishing is the only variable.  

With the collapse of whiting stocks between 1985 and 2000, the biomass of sprat increased, as they faced less natural predation, but these current estimated models do not account for biomass changes due to predation, changes due to spawning or to recruitment. Currently the size and age of fish being landed is not considered in these models and yet this has a significant effect on spawning, younger fish producing significantly less spawn. Temperature of the water impacts the development and survival of sprat eggs and abundance of zooplankton impacts juvenile growth rates. 

New Management Strategies can use Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) eco-system models, that can identify key linkages and drivers of forage fish production. 

Producing reference points for key prey species, such as sprat and other forage fish, they can consider how over exploitation of these fish may impact the production of larger fish and sea mammals, as well as the general ecosystem.

At the 2020 level of fishing mortality, sprat was estimated to be roughly eight per cent less than its potential ‘unfished’ biomass. The models are able to consider how long it will take cod, haddock and whiting to recover if sprat fishing increases beyond this level. 

The use of these simulations will become more accurate, as more reliable data is input. It is now imperative that government, the fishing industry, environmental NGO’s and activist groups such as Save Our Sprat work to create a collaborative culture that is united in looking to the future health and abundance of our coastal waters. 

The technology now exists to help inform our decisions, we must make the best use of it.

On August 26, a CECAS workshop exploring the future of CECAS was held at Myross Wood House. It attracted stakeholders interested in brainstorming possible solutions to the potential loss of Green Skibbereen’s licence to use Myross Wood House and surrounding land. The property is owned by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, who have, in recent weeks made the decision to withdraw from their assets in this region of the country and so will not renew the licence in June 2026. 

The meeting explored pros and cons of solutions such as finding a new home comparable to Myross Wood House where the work could continue; or discovering the means to purchase the property, which may involve an investor or philanthropist. 

Although no definitive answers dropped out of that first public meeting, it is clear that over the next 10 months a solution must be found in order to continue this vital work in West Cork.  

The Irish EPA states that climate mitigation is about changing how we live, move, consume and manufacture so as to reduce and/or eliminate the production of harmful greenhouse gases: and it includes how we best use our land. Adaptation refers to dealing with the expected impacts of climate change and involves taking practical actions to manage risks, protect communities and strengthen the resilience of the economy. 

CECAS was set up by Green Skibbereen – a not-for-profit company established in early 2020 – to facilitate a whole community approach to the challenge of moving to low carbon energy. Since its inception CECAS has run and hosted training courses, workshops, discussions and events with the aim of creating and nurturing regenerative rural communities. Staffed mainly by volunteers, they have created a community garden and restored much of the woodland and the historic building, whilst also creating a community of interest and enabling people to gain a variety of experience. Browsing through their social media platforms or website at cecas.ie quickly educates on the variety of activities they host. 

Their work is admirable and demonstrates what can be achieved when a few highly-motivated and determined people focus on moving forwards rather than ringing their hands in dismay and stating that climate change and biodiversity loss is outside their sphere of influence. 

Not ignoring the wider impact that corporations and governments have on our ability to combat climate change, CECAS have engaged at international level with Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic, an EU funding programme supporting cooperation between remote and sparsely populated communities in northern Europe. 

CECAS has been chosen as one of four working partners in a Programme called ‘Forestcarbovision’. The other partners are the Finnish Environment Agency (LUKE) the Oulu University of Applied Science in Finland and the Icelandic Environment Agency. 

The project will run for three years from May 2026 and initially will be developing and testing methods of measuring carbon capture but will also be training local volunteers and agencies in this. Green Skibbereen will be involving stakeholders in forestry, climate change mitigation and environmental action in giving feedback on the project. At least one partner meeting will be hosted by CECAS and will be open to local stakeholders.

The project helps communities fight climate change by improving forest carbon farming. They are working to create the tools needed for landowners and policymakers to measure carbon capture accurately. This will enable landowners to be paid for carbon credits by corporations who need to offset their carbon footprint. Purchasing carbon credits is a way for businesses to address emissions that they are unable to eliminate. They are vital to businesses sustainability measures and an essential toolkit in supporting landowners and local communities in restoring nature and sequestering carbon.

Most of us know that as individuals we can improve the environment and protect biodiversity by choosing plastic-free products wherever possible; by walking, cycling or taking public transport; by switching to green energy provision and so forth. 

What many of us don’t realise is that by supporting projects such as CECAS, we are not only enabling the teaching of climate adaptation activities in our communities but are also developing methods of ensuring that government policy facilitates climate mitigation and biodiversity projects. 

A robust policy government on sustainable reforesting will be greatly enhanced by developing tools that measure carbon sequestering in a way that ensures that carbon heavy corporations pay for the work that is needed to offset their carbon footprint. 

The international project that CECAS is working on will increase reforesting, reduce carbon emissions, and support sustainable practices to protect nature. It will support local communities, landowners, environmental agencies, and policymakers in creating and implementing the solutions to living through climate change, including protecting species biodiversity. 

This is work vital to our future.

Please go to cecas.ie to find out much more about the many projects and community events that are run and hosted by CECAS. I encourage you particularly to explore the Blog, which tells the story from the perspective of volunteers who have all spent time bringing this project alive and creating potential for the future. 

Please also spread the word so that any possible solution arising can be discussed with Green Skibbereen. In the meantime, the activities will continue as normal whilst a solution is sought.The video on cecas.ie/support-us gives the views of some of the people and volunteers who take part in some of the community-based activities.

In recent editions of West Cork People you will have seen reports of marches in various coastal towns, calling for a halt to ‘Sprat Fishing’ until research into declining numbers of sprat, which are food for larger fish and for birds, seals, dolphins and whales, can be carried out. 

This is not an unusual situation. Across the globe scientific research into something known as ‘recruitment’ is carried out as a vital part of fisheries management decisions in pursuit of creating a sustainable fishing industry.

‘Recruitment’ simply refers to the process of small, young fish transitioning to an older, larger life stage and it applies to species such as sprat, as much as it applies to salmon, tuna or cod. 

Fish populations change from year to year as environmental factors affect reproduction (spawning), growth of the fish themselves and mortality, which can occur from fishing or from natural causes such as becoming food for larger fish, birds or marine mammals such as whales and dolphins. 

‘Recruitment’ then is a most important process in regulating fish populations and perhaps surprisingly, under natural conditions in marine protected areas, scientific research across the world has shown that during the recruitment period, whether a greater or a lesser number of eggs and larval fish have been produced, the number of fish surviving to the subadult populations will be approximately the same.

Understanding the interaction between fishing and natural variations in recruitment is a central question in fisheries management and is central to an emergency Bill raised in the Dáil by Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore. The Bill proposes ‘to amend the Wildlife Act to add sprat to the Fifth Schedule, prohibiting targeted commercial fishing of the species. This protection would only be reversed when robust scientific data and a sustainable management plan are in place.’ 

The Bill also contains a requirement for the development of a just transition plan to support fishers impacted by the moratorium.

In short, this Bill calls for a full understanding of the implications both for fisheries and for conservation.

Productivity of forage fish stocks such as sprat can vary substantially driven by environmental conditions; and this can cause a decline in stocks’ size, which may remain well below previously observed levels, despite little or no fishing. 

Whitmore’s proposed Bill advises caution, as clearly warranted when stocks are falling, but also acknowledges that the risks of stopping fishing unnecessarily should be considered. 

There is considerable infrastructure associated with fisheries and much of this may not have alternative uses. Closures can result in loss of infrastructure and of markets and can create knock-on effects detrimental to other associated industries.

In fisheries research ‘biomass’ refers to the total weight of all fish within a specific population or area. It is a key indicator of fish stock health and is used to inform sustainable fishing practices. Biomass figures can be estimated using catch data, surveys, and acoustic techniques. 

All these methods require the cooperation of the fishing industry and are aimed at staying above the threshold for collapse of a single species. 

As sprat is a forage fish however and is vital for the survival of larger fish, birds, and marine mammals, its management requires an ecosystem approach. 

The ‘Save our Sprat’ campaign focuses on the consequences of sprat fishing for other valued species in the food web and puts biomass thresholds of sprat in the context of predator sensitivity. Multiple studies have shown that as forage fish biomass drops, natural predators are extremely sensitive to that depletion and these effects are nonlinear. This can be most helpful, effectively acting as ‘the canary in the coal mine’.

For example, long term studies of sea birds consistently show periods of high or low breeding success and periods of complete breeding failures related to anomalous environmental conditions. Chronic food scarcity, where prey is persistently below a threshold will however compromise ‘long-term’ breeding success and affect the longer term observed populations. As numbers of forage fish drop there is an observable critical threshold below which bird populations are negatively impacted. 

A globally recognised pattern has emerged independent of species type, habitat or initial population size. Below the critical threshold bird populations decline strongly in response to lack of food abundance, however as food abundance rises population responses reach a plateau and do not continue to increase. The point at which increases in forage fish no longer corresponds to an increase in bird population creates a plateau known as ‘maximum prey biomass’. 

In long term studies of 14 bird species in seven ecosystems within the Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern Oceans, the critical (low) threshold approximated one-third of the ‘maximum prey biomass’ observed. This provides an indicator of the minimal forage fish biomass needed to sustain seabird productivity. Seabird populations can indicate vital information about the state of the forage fish populations. 

Provisions such as that proposed in the Dáil by Jennifer Whitmore, requiring a moratorium to accommodate scientific research, alongside a requirement for the development of a just transition plan to support fishers, pave the way to create policy based on data that fishing strategies desperately need. 

As the fishing industry keeps emphasising, they need a way to avoid, to whatever extent possible, depleting stocks below critical ecological thresholds. Identifying these thresholds must be a priority for inshore fisheries management and should be a critical focus of government departments.

During the six-and-a-half years that interested parties have been waiting for the Department’s decision in Kinsale, a whole review of the mussel farming industry in Ireland has shown that this industry creates a total income of around €15 million per annum, with most of that coming from suspended mussel farms, as opposed to bottom-grown mussel farms. Indeed, the economic performance in the bottom grown mussels sector shows that this segment is in economic distress.

The proposed mussel farm in Kinsale will be bottom grown rather than suspended on ropes, as we more often see in the deep bays around the coast of West Cork. Wild mussel seed will be collected from The Irish Sea by dredging and will then be transplanted onto the licensed aquaculture site for on-growing, with harvesting by dredging occurring between 12 and 24 months later. The length of time it takes for mussels to grow from seed to a size suitable for eating depends on such factors as water temperature, food availability, and farming methods. 

The ongoing supply of mussel seed is almost entirely reliant on the natural settlement of wild mussel seed in relatively small areas in the Irish Sea. The mean dredged biomass of mussel seed from the Irish Sea is in the range of 7,000 to 10,000 tonnes per annum with large variations year-to-year. BIM, Ireland’s seafood development agency, estimates that, based on data it has collected since 2010, the annual average area of the mussel seed fishery in the Irish Sea is approximately 350 hectares and far less mussel seed has been fished than has been allocated.

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification is a market-based instrument aimed at recognising sustainable fishing practices using a credible, independent, third-party assessment process. Uniquely in Ireland the bottom-grown mussel fishing industry has retained its MSC certification every year since it first achieved it in 2013. This is a mark of seafood coming from a well-managed and sustainable source, ensuring no overfishing, and that the fish population remains productive and healthy

The MSC standard also focuses on environmental impact, ensuring that other species and habitats within the ecosystem remain healthy and that all relevant environmental laws are complied with and adaption to changing environmental circumstances is prevalent. 

The location of the proposed site in Kinsale has not previously been used for aquaculture and is not a registered aquaculture site. It seems surprising then, especially given the MSC standards, that a full environmental impact survey has not been carried out prior to this licence being granted. It is known for example that Zostera Marina Seagrass is found in Kinsale Harbour and that it forms a nursery habitat for juvenile fish. 

The distribution and abundance of seagrass globally has declined during the last century. Reduced water quality and destruction by activities such as dredging, anchoring, mooring and harbour development can rapidly reduce the seagrass beds and, whilst reductions may be rapid, recolonisation may require long time periods. Restoration of seagrass beds requires considerable resources, and these beds are protected under the OSPAR convention. 

Whilst an Appropriate Assessment has been submitted in Kinsale, this was very broad, looking at oyster bed sites much further upstream and with somewhat sketchy information on the proposed mussel beds. For this particular new aquaculture site, which introduces a new activity, the licensing body did not ask for an Environmental Impact Statement, which would require a much more comprehensive discussion of the reasonable alternatives and more focus on the cumulative impacts of the project proposed, alongside all existing activities and reasonably foreseeable future development within the area.

There is no doubt that mussel farming adds significantly to the Irish economy and could probably add more. There is also a wealth of research on different modes of mussel farming and on how they can affect the environment, improving it or proving detrimental, depending on many ongoing factors. Sadly, the long delays in decisions on licences for aquaculture don’t seem to reflect the development of an overall fish stocks management strategy for all of Ireland’s coastal waters.

In the past two weeks a new chairperson has been welcomed to the Aquaculture Licence Appeals Board (ALAB). It was noted at the meeting, which welcomed him, that there is a six-year delay and a backlog of 295 licences to be decided in the Aquaculture industry upstream of the Appeals Board. These 295 applications are being delayed by the lack of appropriate assessments, which are determined by the Marine Institute. Most appeals heard by ALAB relate to licences that have been granted and which a third party, or third parties want to have revoked. 

The residents of Kinsale may have quite a wait for ALAB to hear their case.

Whilst many of us think of Amazon as an online bookseller that has branched out, in cooperation with other retailers managing their sales and logistics, we don’t automatically think of Amazon as a Web Services provider. Yet Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides cloud services to thousands of Irish SME’s and large businesses including Ryanair, Bank of Ireland and Stripe. 

Now Amazon have applied to The Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA), for a maritime usage licence for Geophysical Survey and Site Investigations for a proposed transatlantic subsea fibre optic cable, making landfall at Castlefreke Bay, County Cork. This subsea cable would increase the international connectivity of the Irish community. 

At this stage Amazon wants to evaluate options for the route linking the USA, Ireland and the UK, and so the application to MARA is for temporary survey works. The license application area covers a stretch for potential landfall at Ownahincha/Little Island Strand to the West and stretching to Long Strand to the East.

As those of you who have visited the beautiful beach and sand dunes of Castlefreke may know, the area of Kilkeran Lake and Castlefreke Dunes is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) protected under the EU Habitat’s Directive. Coastal Lagoons, like Kilkeran Lake are becoming increasingly rare in Ireland as well as in Europe; and so this small stretch of coastline, which is home to a tiny and rare sandhopper – Allomelita pellucida, only found in intertidal areas, along with protected plant species only found in or near coastal lagoons is of significant importance. 

Kilkeran Lake is the best example of a sedimentary lagoon in south-west Ireland. The Government and its agencies are responsible for the implementation and enforcement of regulations that will ensure the ecological integrity of sites within the Natura 2000 network and indeed part of the site at Castlefreke is State-owned and managed for conservation purposes.

Conservation of Sand Dunes is vital in relation to mitigation against climate change, which is gradually increasing coastal erosion and flooding. The strength of the dunes, providing a natural barrier against the sea comes from the plants that grow there. These plants have very deep roots that can bind the sand into the dunes hillocks, however although some of the plants, like Marram grass may look tough, they are often damaged even if just walked on. The dunes are far more fragile than we think. 

It is vital then that we protect the Castlefreke Bay and Kilkeran Lake SAC if the proposed subsea cable makes landfall there. 

The current application to MARA for a licence to survey the possible sea route and for site investigations is an initial and important phase of laying the cable. Fibreoptic cables are prone to damage from fishing vessels or anchorage and so often take a winding route to avoid fishing areas, wrecks, and unsuitable landings. The responsibility to maintain and protect the cable from damage lies not with the Irish Government but with the cable operator; and so it is in their interests to find a route with as little potential disturbance as possible, as reinstallation due to damage is costly. Cables generally make landfall at a fenced small single story cable landing station for which planning application will be sought. The cable will then take a cross land route to a data centre.

Seaward from the cable landing station, the cable will be buried along the route to the seabed of the deeper ocean. Whilst there is a dearth of research into the effects of subsea cable on marine life, some studies have shown that one year after the laying of a cable there is no evidence of the disturbance created during it’s laying  and no significant changes in species composition or abundance, related to the cable installation. There are some changes in the magnetic field in the close vicinity of the cable itself, but these do not exceed beyond a distance of 20m.

There are almost 1.5 million kilometres of submarine fibreoptic cable underpinning  the global internet, connecting us all across continents in this information age.

As I work from home researching and writing this article, I wonder how today’s world would operate without this instant connectivity. Nevertheless without the heritage of the Natural World around us; places like the Kilkeran Lake and Castlefreke Dunes SAC, our natural environment would become eroded irreparably. It is vital that these areas are protected and respected and that the need for that respect is impressed upon the companies operating and laying our internet environment. It is imperative that, as they build our online world, our natural world is fully protected. 

A good way to stress this need for respect is to submit a submission to Mara. Submissions can be supportive of the cable or against the cable, but either way they add your voice and give evidence that the people of Cork are aware and interested. 

You can find the licence application and the Natura Impact Statement available for inspection on MARA’s website www.maritimeregulator.ie/applications/mul230031

The deadline for making a submission in writing to MARA is 17.30 on February 11, 2025. To make a submission quote ref: MUL230031 to the following e-mail address:
licence@mara.gov.ie or by post to the following address: Licence Unit, Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, 2nd Floor, Menapia House, Drinagh Business Park, Drinagh, Wexford, Y35 RF29. 

A public discussion will take place around Amazon’s application for survey works at Longstrand and Owenahincha beaches on Thursday, February 6 at 7pm in the Celtic Ross Hotel. This meeting will be co-hosted by COWOW (Castlefreke Our Woods Our Walks), Cllr. Isobel Towse and Christopher O’Sullivan TD.

Follow the border of this land interest west and you will travel upstream along the Bandon River until you reach the Bengour stream entering the river at its northern bank. This significant stream forms the western border of the proposed quarry, which as well as covering an area into which one could fit 26 Croke Park pitches, will also be extending deeper than the level of the water table in a site which is a significant aquifer for the area. 

The planning application for this extremely large quarry states that heavy goods vehicle traffic from the proposed development will only use the L2015 road that leads over the beautiful old heritage bridge, for local deliveries and staff journeys. What does this mean though asks Fiona Hayes?

Local deliveries could easily mean any delivery to or from the proposed site and as there are no details of haulage routes to and from the site in the application, how then will the applicant ensure that a significant number of HGVs do not haul sand and grit across this beautiful old bridge, creating significant risk of damage to it.  

Indeed, the applicant is expecting to add 92 extra HGV trips per day to the locality, adding around one new HGV trip every five minutes of the working day, enough to seriously intrude into the residential amenities of the area and greatly increasing noise, dust and traffic volumes. 

The Bandon River, which is a is a ‘Drinking Water Protected Area’, ‘Nutrient Sensitive Area’ and ‘Designated Freshwater Pearl Mussel Area’ is currently of ‘moderate’ river quality status, as monitored by the Southwestern River Basin District (SWRBD) plan. The concerns of the local community extend also to three Natura 2000 sites each within 12 kilometres of the proposed mega-quarry; and to the many species protected by the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC, which states that a plan or project can only be approved where it can be demonstrated beyond reasonable scientific doubt, that it will not negatively affect the integrity of a Natura 2000 site. Despite this, the applicant claims no ‘Appropriate Assessment’ is necessary. 

Protected species found along the Bandon River include Kingfisher, Whooper Swans, Otters, Brook Lamprey and Freshwater Pearl Mussel.

Freshwater Pearl Mussel is particularly sensitive to fine organic and inorganic particle matter. Fine sediment already contributes to the unfavourable status of freshwater pearl mussel in the Bandon system. Further deterioration of the water can only damage the conservation objectives stated under the Habitats Directive for this species, which include for the species to become sufficiently widespread to maintain itself on a long-term basis as a viable component of the Bandon system. 

Figure 1. shows conflicts and synergies between quarried aggregate for usage in construction and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Red colour indicates conflicts between aggregates and a given goal, whereas turquoise depicts synergistic effects. The size of the bar represents the average effect size of the SDG targets with known links to aggregates and aggregate mining. The resulting scores show a substantial number of inevitable conflicts existing between eight of the UN sustainable development goals and quarrying for aggregates.

No doubt with this in mind The Cork County Development Plan, regarding Mineral Extraction states that “Quarrying operations can give rise to land use and environmental issues which require mitigation and control. It is necessary to ensure that minerals can be sourced without significantly damaging the landscape, environment, groundwater and aquifer sources, road network, heritage and / or residential amenities of the area. (Section 6.12.7) Applications for new quarries and extensions to existing developments will be rigorously assessed to establish and minimise any potential negative impacts.” (Section 6.12.8)

Ireland’s Sustainable Development Goals National Implementation Plan  provides a whole-of-government approach to implement the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), committing  Ireland to fully achieving all 17 of the Goals by 2030. The Department of Communication, Climate Action and Environment has responsibility for officially reporting progress toward the SDG targets. 

The aggregate taken from this potential site at Murragh would be used to make cement. The cement industry is responsible for about eight per cent of planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions — far more than global carbon emissions from aviation.

The adoption of modern methods of construction however, has the potential to dramatically reduce construction sector carbon dioxide emissions whilst improving productivity, innovation, speed of delivery, sustainability and ultimately, costs.

Products such as cross-laminated timber and timber frame, can replace concrete and steel in many applications such as floors, roofs, walls and stairs due to its strength and versatility. Timber framed buildings are increasingly common in Ireland making up approximately 25 per cent of the Irish market. Support is required to further increase the market share for timber construction and to displace the demand for cement in the construction sector.

If we are to seriously embody a whole government approach to the government’s Climate Action Plan, Biodiversity Action Plan and Sustainable Development Goals Action Plan, that must include enabling and encouraging our planning departments to change direction, in a way that does not simply require mitigation to slightly reduce the threat from aggregate quarries such as this, but rather pushes developers to innovate and apply construction methods that are far more sustainable negating the need for massive aggregate quarries. 

If you want to help push Ireland towards its sustainable development goals consider joining a growing community supporting the Save Murragh Campaign. You will find them on Twitter, Facebook and Change.org.  @SaveMurragh

As I write, I am sitting on a veranda in Ko Yao Noi island in Thailand looking out over Phang Nga Bay watching a pied hornbill cavorting on the wall. I am on holiday.  

I have many friends who, like me, have taken a flight overseas this year. I excuse this visit to Thailand explaining that we needed to meet our grandchildren, the youngest of whom is four-years-old though we had never met him. 

The family members we are sharing our holiday with have flown from Australia and whilst I am in Thailand another daughter has flown from London to Spain and back for a work conference.

This morning, as I look out of over the bay and pick up news of the COP27 on my iPhone, the talk of the need to totally phase-out fossil fuels is once more being raised in that part of the media that still takes climate change seriously, yet I feel no guilt at having flown here, which is surprising to me. Even I, who have consistently shouted against the fossil fuel industry, nevertheless deem meeting my grandchildren more important than denying myself an aeroplane flight, despite the emotion that flying raises in the fight to stem climate change.  

COP27 is itself held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt this year and requires many, if not most attendees to fly to get there. This year’s conference brings together leaders in government civil society industry and finance from all around the world in an attempt to accelerate action to achieve the goals of the Paris agreement and the UN Framework on climate change; nevertheless all the reports that I read from COP27 climate activists and environmental activists speak of loopholes in the recommendations and loopholes in the different country’s commitments, all of which will enable life to go on as normal, business as usual. I will still fly on holiday, my daughter will still fly on business. World leaders will fly to meet each other.

Of course, the need to combat climate change does not only focus on air traffic, the aviation industry producing just 2.1 per cent of all human-induced Carbon Dioxide Emissions. Indeed this is just 12 per cent of transport emissions, with 74 per cent coming from road transport. Nevertheless that so many of us still fly and drive regularly is indicative of how hard it is to change our habits. Even being grounded during the Covid lockdowns has not stemmed our cultural norms of travelling.

Reports from COP27 centre on the need to develop the next generation of innovative clean climate solutions, yet populations in most developed countries, are still more focused  on the price  of fossil fuels than on how to rapidly phase them out; another illustration of the difficulties in changing a deeply embedded culture. 

We already hold the solution to many of the issues. Our collective cultures however are unable to envisage a way forward and commit to implementing it rapidly. Collectively and individually, we are afraid of the changes to our lifestyles that real commitment to climate neutrality will bring. 

Instead, seven years on from the legally binding Paris Agreement and 27 years on from the first COP held in Berlin, the five United Nations Regional Groups and Small Island Developing States continue to meet; report; refresh commitments, go home, repeat next year. 

In amongst all of this, governments have the challenge of business as usual. Of keeping the country’s economy going as part of a global economy that is reliant on growth. An economy in which people and environment barely signify. Governments have the task of pleasing enough people with wide-ranging views to enable them to remain in power inside so-called democracies, to enable them to run the machinery of state,  interacting with neighbouring states who, as can be illustrated with Russia, may be running on a completely different agenda with completely different cultural norms. 

As climate changes and, as a consequence, living conditions destabilise; more migration occurs. Migration within countries, for example, as farmers who can no longer farm move to cities looking for work, creates social unrest often resulting in political conflict and civil war, as happened in Syria. This leads to greater migration and adds to the pressures of population increase felt by countries accepting immigrants.

The more I look at this, the more I understand the ‘head in the sand’ approach that many people take, for the more I am inclined to focus down, to ignore the bigger picture; yet we cannot do that.

We cannot ignore the future, which means we cannot ignore the present with all its challenges and complexities, yet until we are all willing to take personal responsibility we have no hope of taking collective responsibility, no matter how many years COP discussions run for. 

So, as I get on a plane to fly home, I am seriously considering my travel plans for seeing family at Christmas and I am reflecting on my responsibility to future generations. 

Certainly, if collectively we fail to respond to climate change both in terms of mitigation and adaptation, the world we know will continue to become less and less socially and politically stable, with the result that rather than our choosing to change, change will be forced upon us. 

I do not envy those in government having to juggle all of this; and it is clear to me that we must think deeply as we choose our public representatives. We need to be represented by people with integrity and wisdom. People who care enough about future generations to courageously make difficult decisions and coherently explain those choices to the electorate. 

Electing and supporting wisdom is our collective and individual responsibility. 

Fifty years on, our children, who were not even a twinkle when Schumacher wrote his book, are marching the streets under the banners of Fridays for Future and Extinction Rebellion to bring our attention to the fact that economies and economic systems still revolve around corporations, to the extent that we are destroying their future.

Fifty years on and we still haven’t learned to leave non-renewables like coal and oil in the ground, nor to base economic choices on the simplest solution. We have yet to view the world holistically but rather we cling to our old economic systems, as if we belong to some cult with total belief in a religion of short-term gain that we cannot see beyond.

The title to Schumacher’s book, ‘Small Is Beautiful’ came from a principle espoused by his one-time teacher, the Austrian economist and political scientist, Leopold Kohr, who in 1957 wrote ‘The Breakdown of Nations’.

Later, in 1973, Robert Dahl and Edward Tufte wrote an obscure academic volume called Size and Democracy in which they credited Kohr with a footnote that reads 

“There seems only one cause behind all forms of social misery: bigness. Oversimplified as this may seem, we shall find the idea more easily acceptable if we consider that bigness, or oversize, is really much more than just a social problem. It appears to be the one and only problem permeating all creation. Wherever something is wrong, something is too big.”

Many of Kohr’s ideas became mainstream with the publication of Schumacher’s ‘Small is Beautiful’ advancing the idea of small, appropriate technologies, policies, political entities and organisations as a superior alternative to the mainstream ethos of ‘bigger is better’.

Appropriate technology became a movement to manifest small-scale systems and technology, affordable by locals, decentralised, labour-intensive, energy-efficient, environmentally sustainable, and locally autonomous. 

Today it manifests as self-contained and passive solar building designs in eco villages, community-owned wind generators or ground source heat pumps, local grown food and local craft markets, local transport systems and provision for safe walking and cycling. 

The internet, providing a way of developing open-source principles and knowledge sharing, is enabling new models and innovation for sustainable development in developing nations, rather than transfer of capital-intensive technology from industrialised nations. This change in ‘developing nations’ challenges powerful western nations to respond; and though some of the responses use the power of greater economic wealth to buy out and suppress or alter beyond all recognition the original technology such that it is no longer sustainable, nevertheless many small communities are taking the future into their own hands and developing their own appropriate technologies.  

The appropriate technology movement initially grew out of the energy crisis of the 1970s and focused mainly on environmental sustainability issues. Today the concept has broadened to include the simplest level of technology that can achieve the intended purpose, or to take into consideration the social and environmental ramifications. 

As Climate Change progresses, we are living through greater social, political and economic instability in the world. Even as flash floods wash away soil from drought-stricken areas without replenishing the ground, wildfires hit areas not previously known for such a risk and rivers dry up creating water supply problems and leaving crops destroyed, severe heat across Europe and other severe weather conditions disrupt transport that we have come to rely on. Yet we follow along like sheep, sticking with globalised economic systems that require transporting food over huge distances and transporting ourselves to the very work that supports our globalised economic systems, instead of breaking the mould and nurturing alternatives. 

Now could be the ideal time to look for small scale, affordable, energy efficient, locally autonomous systems of working and living that will shun continuous and everlasting growth, but nevertheless will truly sustain us as communities and individuals within those communities into the future. Now could be the time to really focus on resurrecting the interest in appropriate technology.

The question for many of us is not whether this is a good idea but rather how do we influence society to walk the line between small is beautiful and efficiency of scale.

This requires a mindset change. I believe it requires courage. As long ago as 1957, in ‘The Breakdown Of Nations,’ Leopold Kohl stated that if ever Russia left smaller countries in Europe un-attacked, it would only be because the formidable power of the United States supporting those countries was able to continuously challenge Russian supremacy. He predicted that the moment Russian leaders feel that the United States would leave them unchecked, World War III will have started. 

He did not believe this is related to an aggressive state of mind in Russian leaders but to the existence of a near critical mass of social power, that focused in any one nation makes that nation believe they cannot be challenged or checked. The aggression is present in all nations. 

This present danger to the peace of the world exacerbates the social and political instability defocusing us on the solutions to climate change and creating massive social crises. 

As individuals attempting to look holistically at the problems, it is tempting to throw up our hands in despair and say it is all hopeless. 

As individuals we need to focus on something that we know we can affect. For some that may be collecting plastic from the shoreline or the roadsides or riverbanks. For others it may be growing organic vegetables. For some it is marching with Fridays for Future, for others it is lobbying TD’s and counsellors or opposing inappropriate planning development.

Whatever your particular focus, remember that small is beautiful and your influence in your way is a vital part of the whole. 

As David Whyte says, ‘Start close in… with the ground you know, the pale ground beneath your feet…’

‘…Start right now, take a small step you can call your own’

The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) predicts we will miss these targets unless all the current climate plans and policies are implemented much more rapidly than they are being and further measures are also implemented. However, according to current projections, rather than Ireland progressing rapidly, there is a growing gap between that which is targeted and that which we will achieve over the next decade.

To reach the targeted 51 per cent reduction by 2030 requires an 8.3 per cent average cut in emissions per annum; however, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Ireland in 2021 increased by 4.7 per cent compared to 2020.

In 2021, the energy industries, transport and agriculture sectors accounted for 72 per cent of total GHG emissions. Agriculture is the single largest contributor to the overall emissions, at 37.5 per cent. Transport contributes 17.7pc, Energy industries 16.7pc and the residential sector contributes 11.4pc of GHG emissions.

West Cork hosts a number of voluntary bodies that have come together under the  Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland (SEAI) scheme to form Sustainable Energy Communities. 

For example Kinsale Community Energy Project is an initiative which was set up in 2018 by Transition Town Kinsale and in 2019 made a successful application for €20K funding in order to prepare an Energy Master Plan (EMP) for the area.

Net Zero Skibbereen is another example of a newly formed voluntary body who have been successful in applying for a grant to look at and write a report on energy consumption and create a Sustainable Energy Master Plan. Once this plan is written they will be able to apply for further grants to start the process of running sustainable energy projects in the community. These projects may include such things as retrofitting sustainable energy solutions to housing and offices. As more people start to work from home it has become clear there is a need for improvements in home heating efficiency and in insulation and that current policies are falling short in this area.

Improvements in existing housing stock will of course help in meeting energy targets, however the EPA report that data shows that ALL sectors need to do significantly more to meet the 2030 reduction targets. 

The government must do more to assist farming to meet their targets. Dairy cows are projected to increase in numbers by 13.3pc during the next 10 years. Without help to change animal feeds this will increase methane production, yet research has shown that changes in animal feeding can reduce methane production by 30-80pc.

Greater reductions in industry emissions and transport emissions must rapidly be introduced and there must be more rapid changes to energy production if we are to achieve the targeted 78pc renewable energy electricity generation by 2030

Though community bodies and voluntary bodies such as Sustainable Energy Communities (SEC) are working hard to make the necessary changes, they are mainly grant funded and voluntary. The scope of current interventions with the current pace of implementation of these interventions will not achieve the changes required rapidly enough to avert climate disaster.

 Climate change policies and environmental policies must be upheld by ALL public bodies.  Recently the deputy chair of An Bord Pleanála (ABP) resigned amid an ongoing probe into multiple planning decisions following allegations that conflicts of interest were not declared. The chair of An Bord Pleanála has made an appearance at the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) where he was asked to explain the Bord’s rising legal costs, which increased from 1.2 million in 2018 to 8.4 million in 2020. 

An Bord Pleanála received €26 million in funding in 2020, more than €19 million of which came from the taxpayer, yet their rising legal costs are a result of increases in the number of successful judicial reviews being brought against them, mostly by community groups or members of the public. The number of judicial reviews of planning decisions lost by An Bord Pleanála increased by 25pc in 2021 with in most cases, the board having to pay costs of the challenger as well as their own legal costs. Most of the judicial reviews brought are in the strategic housing arena and the Bord lose 86pc of cases brought.

In the case of Save Our Skibbereen’s Judicial Review against An Bord Pleanála, which was heard in the High court in August 2019, the Court granted an Order of ‘Certiorari’, quashing the decision of the Bord to allow planning permission for a polymer compounding factory. The main ground for the quashing order was that the screening by the Bord for appropriate assessment was in breach of the requirements laid down by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The Bord’s own inspector had advised against granting this planning permission and yet the Bord went against his advice. This is an example of our local and national planning departments failing to take note of European environmental legislations until they are forced to do so by the High Court. 

In other legal cases, the project failed to fulfill basic procedural prerequisites or directly contravened the relevant county development plan. 

Further examples occur in recent judicial review of strategic housing decisions where the court has ruled that public-transport capacity needs to be shown to be adequate in order for the housing development to proceed.

The need to support and comply with the Government’s Climate Action Plan must be injected into these planning decisions.

The Infographic booklet on gov.ie shows a roadmap to achieving the targets in the Programme for Government and the Climate Act 2021. 

All public decisions should be checked against this roadmap to ensure we are all pulling in the same direction.

It is evident that work to achieve net zero is underway. Now we ALL need to lobby TD’s, work with our communities to create Sustainable Energy Communities and watch planning applications and public decisions in our local area to create the pressure needed to speed up implementation of the plans. 

Ireland MUST NOT fail to meet our targets.