Government makes progress on environmental commitments but much stronger action needed 

In awarding the Government a B- for delivery, independent experts acknowledge Ireland has ‘turned a corner’ but conclude Programme for Government commitments were not strong enough in the first place. Faster action now needed.

**Designed report card available for download here**

**Full Media Pack with tables, graphics and plain text version of report card available here**

The Government has just scraped a B- overall grade [1,2] in fulfilling their own promises to address climate change and protect our environment, according to academic experts who have carried out an independent assessment for Friends of the Earth [3,4].

Crucially, however, the independent assessors also concluded:

“The commitments in their Programme for Government were not enough to achieve a truly sustainable society or meet our national and international climate targets. While we are relieved that Ireland has turned a corner away from our ‘climate laggard’ origins, this is just the start of a long and important journey for Irish society, and momentum will have to accelerate over successive governments to make Ireland a genuinely sustainable economy.”

In this fourth and final Report Card for Friends of the Earth the experts also identified six areas where the next Government would need to make additional commitments, from planning for fossil fuel phase out and sustainable agriculture to public engagement and the alignment of state agencies with climate obligations [5].

The overall assessment marked the Government out of 10 in nine subject areas. The Government’s highest scores came in the categories of  “Waste and Circular Economy” (8.5 - up from 7.5 last year), “Nature & Biodiversity (7.5 - up from 6.5 last year) and Buildings (7.5 - up marginally from 7 last year). The lowest scoring categories were Water & Marine (5 - same as last year) and Agriculture & Forestry (5 - up from 4 last year).

Commenting on the assessment:

Dr. Diarmuid Torney, Associate Professor, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, and one of the independent experts who conducted the assessment said: 

“This year, the Government has done enough to merit moving from last year’s C+ grade to a B-. This reflects action across a range of areas. Nonetheless, the Government shouldn’t be content to rest on their laurels. The progress achieved needs to be sustained over the years ahead. As we move into an election cycle and the formation of a new government, it is important that all parties commit to continuing and strengthening action on climate and environment in the years ahead.”

Dr. Paul Deane, Senior Lecturer in Clean Energy Futures, MaREI, University College Cork, and one of the independent experts who conducted the assessment said: 

“The Government has laid a good foundation to build a decarbonised future, the challenge now is to build the structure at speed. Ireland has not lacked ambition when it comes to climate, but it has lacked agility, and this will be the challenge for the next government.”

Dr. Cara Augustenborg, Chair of the independent expert panel that conducted the assessment said: 

“While it’s a relief that this Government has largely taken their own promises seriously and delivered on a majority, the importance of having strong commitments out of the gate is clear. We are turning a corner toward a more sustainable Ireland but still have a long way to go to address worrying trends in environmental health. I hope this process shows the next Government that we are always watching, and civil society will continue to demand more ambition and faster implementation of environmental commitments in any future Programme for Government.”

Reacting to the assessment, Oisín Coghlan, Chief Executive of Friends of the Earth who commissioned the assessment, said:

“This fourth independent assessment shows that when a Government prioritises an issue in the Programme for Government, progress is possible. Climate polluting emissions have begun to fall. But it also shows that the initial commitments in the Programme for Government are critical. That’s why Friends of the Earth will now be pushing all the political parties heading into the General Election to commit to the faster and fairer climate action we need to stay within the binding limits on pollution we have agreed to under both Irish and EU law.”

ENDS

Notes

1. Download the designed report card here. You can also view a Google doc with a more detailed version of the report and plain text that can be copied easily here. Associated graphics and tables are available here. 

2. The compendium of information that informed the Report Card is available here.

3. The assessment was carried out by a panel of independent academic experts, Dr Cara Augustenborg from UCD, Dr Paul Deane from UCC and Dr Diarmuid Torney from DCU. It was commissioned by Friends of the Earth who had no role in deciding the results. Photos of the independent experts are available here.

4. The assessment’s methodology was as follows: Friends of the Earth commissioned three academic experts to independently assess the Irish Government’s performance on environment and climate relative to commitments in the 2020 Programme for Government (PfG). The PfG contains nearly 300 environmental or climate related commitments. Friends of the Earth divided these commitments into nine categories: Climate; Nature and Biodiversity; Circular Economy & Waste; Water and Marine; Air Quality; Transport; Buildings; Energy; and Agriculture and Forestry. More than 95 stakeholders across a wide range of civil society organisations, sectoral interest groups, political parties, academic institutions, media organisations, and Government bodies were contacted to gather data and insights on each of the Government’s environmental commitments. Thirty three stakeholder interviews were conducted along with extensive desk-based independent research, all of which is reported in a compendium developed by Avalon Kennedy Astles, Benjamin Macke and Ross McCann of University College Dublin.  Three academic experts then used the information in this compendium, along with their own knowledge of Government policy, to score each of the nine categories. Their assessment to calculate the Government’s grade does not evaluate whether commitments contained in the PfG were adequate, but rather how well this Government is keeping their word on their own climate and environmental promises. The assessment took into account that the current Government has served for four years while the PfG was developed based on a five-year timescale. Thus, performance was evaluated based on the level of policy development and implementation which could reasonably be expected within the period this Government has served to date. This assessment has been conducted annually since 2021 to measure progress over the duration of the PfG. We anticipate this to be the last Report Card of this Government in this series before the next general election.

5. The independent experts recommended the following six issues the next Government should consider in establishing their own Programme for Government:

• Climate Action: Establish a detailed roadmap for a fossil-free economy and a detailed plan for a sustainable agriculture sector. This includes: revising Food Vision 2030 to align line with the long term vision of achieving net zero emissions and to ensure that resilience to climate shocks are at the heart of our food system; publishing the National Planning Framework with regional energy targets; prioritising Oireachtas support for grid infrastructure projects; and removing fossil fuel subsidies (including in aviation).
• Engagement: Develop and implement a coherent, consistent, all-of-Government strategy for climate communications, taking sufficient account of the different strata in our society. The focus of communications should be on the opportunities of decarbonisation as well as the progress already made. The Government should also engage with the public via a communication campaign to highlight the evidence of poor air quality on human health. Daily air quality measurements could be used in the weather app to showcase that urgency. However, to utilise our exceptional air monitoring network, the Government must also ensure that all monitoring stations are well-maintained with adequate equipment.
• Nature: To address Ireland's biodiversity crisis, the next Government should immediately implement the Nature Restoration Law and develop the National Restoration Plan. To achieve this, there needs to be adequate resources to fund restoration projects on both private and public lands. The next Government should also commit to moving forward the recommendations from the Citizens Assembly, Children and Young People's Assembly and the Joint Oireachtas Committee, including biodiversity education across society.
• Economy: Align graduate and apprentice training programmes with the needs of Climate and Biodiversity Action Plans, Circular Economy Plans, the need for retrofit and repair services, etc. We will not meet ambitious environmental targets if we fail to sufficiently train Ireland’s workforce to undertake this important work.  
• Governance: Undertake further steps to ensure that all Government departments and state bodies act in a manner consistent with the commitments in the climate law, including through amending the legal mandates of state bodies.
• Commitment: Take a more interconnected approach to environmental policy between departments and state commitments in the next Programme for Government in SMART ways (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound). For example, the current commitment "Ensure compliance with the Water Framework Directive" should be broken down into a series of SMART-er commitments.