End of Term Climate Report: 'Little Leo is falling in with the wrong crowd'

Climate coalition issues "end of term" report on Government's performance

Friends of the Earth says 'Little Leo is falling in with the wrong crowd'

Commenting in advance of the launch of the Stop Climate Chaos "end of term" report, Oisín Coghlan, Director of Friends of the Earth said:

"As the Dáil's summer term ends this week, on climate change we can say the Government's paying more attention in class but its results still have to improve.

"Richard's writing has improved but he still has a lot of work to do on his arithmetic. "The new Climate Action Plan reads a lot better than the National Mitigation Plan two years ago or the draft National Energy and Climate Plan last year.

"There is a promise of better behaviour in the future, with a commitment to putting binding targets into law along with strong independent oversight and beefed up parliamentary accountability.

"But the actual measures in the Plan don't add up to bringing Irish emissions down far enough fast enough. Richard and his classmates in Government have a lot more homework to do.

"And there were alarming signs at the end of term that little Leo is falling in with the wrong crowd. Bullies like Donald and Javier don't like people upsetting their fossil fuel buddies by talking about phasing out fossil fuel extraction. But I was really surprised when Leo decided that none of the other boys and girls in the Dáil could debate the Climate Emergency Bill anymore as long as he was school captain.

"Moreover, Leo and Richard's wheeze of increasing taxes on consumers of fossil fuels while cosying up to producers of fossil fuels would be like the school principal who charges kids for eating sweets and crisps at lunch break rather than just banning junk food from school. It's an impractical joke".

The Stop Climate Chaos Coalition's assessment of the Government's Climate Action Plan is being launched in Buswells at lunchtime. The report will be online here at 1pm.