The climate crisis is accelerating rapidly with droughts, wild fires, heat waves and flooding appearing in the news more and more frequently. It is crystal clear that action on the climate crisis is extremely urgent. Ireland has passed into law a climate bill that includes the target of a 51% reduction in emissions by 2030 which will be outlined in the Carbon Budgets. In order to achieve this ambitious target massive changes to the economy and how the country functions will be necessary. The Irish public is woefully under-prepared for the transition which will need to take place. In the past the Irish Government has run campaigns to build awareness among Irish citizens in matters of public safety such as the covid-19 campaign ( gov.ie - COVID-19 (Coronavirus) (www.gov.ie) and the road safety campaign ( Ireland’s Government Road Safety Strategy 2021 - 2030 (rsa.ie). Climate change is a matter that will impact the safety of all Irish Citizens. A public awareness campaign on the climate crisis is desperately needed. At a minimum the climate awareness campaign should include the following topics. • The science of climate change, how gases such as Carbon dioxide, Methane and Nitrous oxide are warming our atmosphere and the sources of such gases. • Information on how these impacts will affect us including food security, water scarcity, increased frequency of drought, fires, flooding and storms, coastal erosion, pandemics and sea level rise. • Tipping points in the climate system which could accelerate climate change if we don’t act quickly enough. • Build awareness around a 1.5 degree global temperature rise and what it means compared to 2 degree temperature rise. • Information on what’s driving climate change including our reliance on fossil fuels, consumption choices, farming systems, diets and destruction of the natural world. • Information about how natural systems are under threat and how deeply we are reliant on the natural world; as healthy habitats and species are fundamental to and deeply intertwined with our own health and wellbeing. • Information about nature based solutions, such as re-wilding, rewetting bogs, slowing water down in catchments, planting continuous cover native forests. The campaign should be endorsed by respected scientists and overseen by the Climate Change Advisory Council. Finally, people are feeling powerless in the face of the catastrophe ahead. Collectively we need to push past the denial or cognitive dissonance which has paralysed us, into a place where we actively engage with the issue. The public need clear leadership from the government on the Climate Crisis. Please sign this petition and join us in urging the government to develop the climate awareness campaign that we so desperately need.

Ireland has repeatedly missed its greenhouse gas emissions targets and, with the transport sector accounting for 20% of the nation's CO2 emissions, switching to electric vehicles represents a great opportunity to cut emissions quickly. This also has the benefit of reducing air pollution, which will benefit public health, while the cheaper running costs will help many who are already struggling due to the Cost of Living Crisis. At present, incentives are only available for brand new electric cars - which makes them unaffordable for the majority of people. This is also delaying an affordable second-hand EV market, which needs to be prioritised if the majority of people are to be able to make the switch. A key mantra for tackling the Climate Crisis is doing more with less. Converting petrol, diesel and hybrid cars to run as full EVs is a great example of this – as it takes cars that run perfectly well, but which have high and harmful emissions, and delivers all the benefits of electric cars – such as lower running costs and no air pollution – at an affordable price. We have previously seen the Irish Government offer scrappage schemes for cars – but this has come at the cost of a lot of metal, plastic and oil waste. By funding EV conversions instead of supporting scrappage schemes, the Government can not only avoid unnecessary waste, but also help to keep natural resources in the ground by effectively recycling the cars that we already have. The French Government has made EV conversions available for a price of just €5,000, which is a much more realistic entry point for most people in Ireland. Especially during a cost of living crisis

Hot weather can make work unbearable and with record temperatures likely to be a trend in Ireland, we should introduce a statutory maximum working temperature after which employees are sent home.

Our beloved Mangala is a unique area of woodland in the heart of Douglas. It's an area of natural beauty and is full of biodiversity including many protected species. The destruction of natural habitats and mature woodland is not acceptable. The Mangala is also of huge historical importance because of its close connection with Morough Mills. The Mangolds, locally called Mangles, that gave it its name were grown there to be used in the mills. The woods is a haven that generations of us have enjoyed and continue to do so. The people of Douglas won't stand for this. We won't allow the destruction of OUR Mangala

Methane emissions from animals is a well-known issue. Cows alone are responsible for about 40% of those planet-warming gases globally — mainly through their burps. UC Davis scientist Ermias Kebreab is something of a cow whisperer who has spent two decades studying the greenhouse gas contributions of hoofed animals. "If you tell me how much your animal is consuming, I can tell you pretty closely to the actual emissions using mathematical models," he said. "Most of the gas is formed in their stomach, so in their guts, particularly in the first chamber. And so they belch it out." He and other scientists have developed special diets and genetic predictions that could help reduce the methane formed in cow stomachs. Now, New Zealand could become the first country to tax its way to fewer "four-legged" emissions. There were 7.3 million cattle, 5.5 million sheep, 1.6 million pigs and almost 16.5 million poultry on Irish farms in 2020, while the average farm size has increased by 0.7 hectares (or 2.2 per cent) in 2020.

On the 9th of March, a motion to ban the building of further data centres in the constituency was put forward by Cllr Madeleine Johansson of People Before Profit and passed with the support of Sinn Fein, Social Democrats and several independent councillors. There are several reasons councillors voted to ban further Data centres in the region: Ireland currently holds 25% of Erops Data centres and South Dublin is quickly becoming the Data centre hub of Ireland with TikTok set to build one of the biggest Data Centres in Europe in Clondalkin which would use up the same amount of energy in one day then the whole of Clondalkin in three months. It is estimated that 10% of Ireland’s electricity use is currently consumed by data centres and this is expected to increase to 25-30% by 2030. Data centres consume an average of 2% of electricity globally. The continued building of new data centres is incompatible with any hope we have of reaching our climate targets in CO2 reductions. It is clear from EirGrid’s initial statement in late 2021 that the grid in Dublin is struggling to cope, something more data centres would put a further strain on. In addition to the large amount of energy used by data centres they also consume large amounts of water, again adding pressure on the capacity of water services in South Dublin where we are seeing large new housing developments. Despite the motion passing however, there is now an attempt to overturn this decision. Councillors will vote again on this on the 21st June when it will be either included in the plan or removed. After that it will be sent to the Minister for Local Government Darragh O'Brien. We need the Minister and the government to support the democratic vote of local councillors and keep the ban in place. Please sign the petition.

Long-distance journeys cause unnecessary suffering to animals. They can become exhausted, sick and injured, hungry, dehydrated and stressed, having to cope with high temperatures and humidity and extensive periods in cramped, filthy conditions, sometimes with little or no food and water.  Every year thousands of young bulls are exported to countries outside the EU including Turkey, Libya, Lebanon and Morocco. As if that wasn’t bad enough this year new markets have been sought and shipments have gone to Jordan and Egypt. A trade deal with Israel has also been ageed for cattle and sheep.  THIS IS GOING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION!  These are all countries with no or minimal animal welfare regulations in place and appalling standards, particularly at slaughter. These bulls are subjected to unimaginable suffering, crammed into hot, filthy vessels for up to two weeks, usually just to be slaughtered in a brutal manner shortly after arrival at their destination.  Slaughter methods in these destination countries include slashing tendons, stabbing in the eyes, being strung up by a rear leg, multiple slashes at the throat, being hit over the head with poles, all whilst fulling conscious and in front of other animals. The slaughterhouse workers have a lack of education, and training, lack of facilities, there is no vet present and there is little in the way of legislation. Street slaughter is common.  We are calling for the Minister to ban export to all countries outside the EU that do not share our welfare standards, both in documented legislation and in practice.  You can find out more about the industry here: https://www.ethicalfarmingireland.com/live-export/

Part of our climate change goals & ambitions.

Fracking and drilling pollutes our water, and damages our health. It is expected that the petroleum licencing policy that Minister Lyons will propose to the Executive could open the door for the approval of outstanding drilling and fracking applications in Fermanagh, and in the five council areas of Belfast, Antrim and Newtownabbey, Mid Ulster, Armagh City Banbridge and Craigavon, Lisburn and Castlereagh. There is no time for legislation to be passed on fracking and drilling in this Assembly term. It must be stopped at the Executive.

The Limerick Greenway, which opened in July and cost €10M euros, is now the most successful greenway in Ireland with over 250K visitors already. The greenway traverses a green plain under Rooskagh Hill. This region has huge potential for tourism and could create a multiple of the estimated 200 jobs created in Mayo on the back of their fabulous greenway. It is similar in size to Limerick and visitor numbers are comparable. A dual carriageway through the plain and the greenway will stunt any further growth in amenities and jobs. We believe Limerick County Council; Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the Department of Transport have chosen it not because it is the best route to alleviate traffic congestion in and around Newcastle West but purely because they think that it is achievable in the time frame that they must spend the funds promised and also allows them to circumvent future restrictions from the EU in relation to climate control. We want to raise awareness of this flawed decision and try and reverse it before it is too late. The process to date has evolved side by side with the Covid pandemic and the authorities have been able to move swiftly without entertaining any real democratic questioning. Zoom calls with pre-prepared scripts has been the order of the day. The whole planning, implementation and engagement of this process has been rushed and expedited. Most local politicians appear to be repeating the same mantra as the council and there is a clear democratic deficit here. It is left up to ordinary citizens to voice their concern through the media and other channels such as this petition. https://www.facebook.com/protectlimerickgreenway [email protected]

The more young people who sign in support, the more we can pressure our decision makers to implement these demands.

Big business are producing more, not less emissions and are making the climate crisis worse. Government decisions are letting them off the hook and pushing the burden for the climate crisis on to regular people, not the corporations who drive it.