Sir, – Harry McGee aptly summarises how slowly the political wheels turn on the issue of climate change ("Climate change: Government is failing to make tough choices", Analysis, November 16th).
Urgent action is needed across a range of areas. One simple step the Government could take over the coming weeks to send a powerful signal about Ireland’s intentions on this vital issue is to shift State investments out of fossil-fuel companies. In 2015, Ireland had investments of approximately €133 million of taxpayer money in global fossil-fuel companies through the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), the successor to the National Pension Reserve Fund. It is completely incoherent for the Government to continue to invest money in the very industry that is driving climate change, while reasserting commitment to the temperature limits agreed in the Paris Agreement.
A review of the ISIF investment strategy is currently under way. The Government should take this opportunity to signal its intention to ramp-up climate action by committing to withdraw all ISIF investments from the fossil-fuel industry and amending legislation to ban future investment of public money into this industry. A precedent was set in 2008 when the Government amended legislation to enable the withdrawal of public money from the cluster-munitions industry and ban all future investments.
Given the scale of the crisis the world is facing as a result of climate change, surely similar action is needed now in relation to the fossil-fuel industry? – Yours, etc,
ÉAMONN MEEHAN,
Trócaire,
Maynooth, Co Kildare.