Ireland to double aid to countries worst hit by climate change

Ireland will double the help it is offering countries worst affected by the consequences of the world’s climate crisis, including paying for measures to deal with damage that cannot be turned back.

The measures will include paying for insurance against flooding risks in the Caribbean, or to supply drought-resistant seeds, pay for water harvesting in regions left in drought, or offer humanitarian aid during climate-caused crises.

Meanwhile, Irish diplomats will strive “to ensure that climate change is recognised as a driver of instability and climate action is an opportunity for peacebuilding in multilateral fora where appropriate”, the climate action report says.

Ireland will work diplomatically for an end to oil and gas “fracking”, where underground rocks are broken apart under pressure to release hydrocarbons, and to push for and to global fossil fuel extraction.

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The Government has also pledged to work with like-minded European Union state to change EU energy laws to restrict the importation of fracked gas, as urged by those who have backed an LNG terminal in Limerick.

Meanwhile, the amount of municipal waste that will go landfill will be cut to just 10 per cent by 2035, while nearly 70 per cent of packaging waste and 55 per cent of plastic packaging waste will be recycled by 2030.

The target is to provide for 90 per cent collection of plastic drinks containers by 2029, to reduce food waste by 50 per cent by 2030 and to ensure all plastic packaging is reusable or recyclable by 2030.