Fifty years ago Oxford economist E. F. Schumacher wrote ‘Small Is Beautiful – A Study of Economics As If People Mattered’, challenging the state of excessive consumption in Western society; and challenging economic globalisation, with warnings related to the inevitable human cost. His premise was that economies should revolve around the […]

The country’s climate plans outline a legally binding target of 51 per cent reduction in emissions to be reached by 2030 and reaching Net Zero by 2050 at the latest. Net Zero means cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible, with any remaining emissions re-absorbed from the […]

I recently watched an impassioned plea from Arnold Schwarzenegger: The one-time Mr Universe, film star and Republican Governor of California, was encouraging delegates at the Sixth Annual Austrian World Summit on the Environment, held on June 14, 2022, to support rapid expansion of use of existing technology, such that we […]

Our current 1.1 degree Celsius warmer world is already affecting natural and human systems in Europe and across the world; yet now climate scientists are predicting that we will hit 1.5 degrees Celsius, even if that high level is not sustained, by 2026. The 1.5 degree Celsius figure is the […]

Friday April 22 Is this year’s Earth Day. The theme this year is #InvestInOurPlanet.  earthday.org/earth-day-2022/ lists activities taking place across the globe, most of which seem to be happening in North America. At time of writing this, only one is listed on the Island of Ireland, where the charity Action […]

Walking with friends recently the subject Global Warming came up in conversation and one person commented that though he realised that countries like the Maldives were seriously threatened by sea level rise, he didn’t think that Global Warming affected us in Ireland at all.  In reality the EPA reports that […]