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 […]
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This month West Cork Branch Committee Member Jez Simms shares his experiences of a pelagic boat trip on August 13, organised by the Branch. Pelagic means living or occurring in the open sea. It was a glorious Sunday morning when members of Birdwatch Ireland set out on the Branch’s annual […]
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 […]
Branch Committee Member Damaris Lysaght writes about the fascinating and endangered Marsh Fritillary butterfly. For most of the year the Marsh Fritillary butterfly exists as a caterpillar. It is only on the wing from the last week or two of May until the around the end of June; a case […]
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 […]
