The 6.8 per cent drop in greenhouse gas emissions in 2023, recently revealed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report, indicates that the emissions curve in Ireland is beginning to bend. While this is positive news, more ambitious transformative change is urgently needed if we are to meet our 2030 targets.
Enterprise Minister Peter Burke’s comment that the EPA findings “really smashes the myth that you can’t have a growing economy and also reduce emissions” provides a telling insight into why Ireland remains a laggard within the EU in terms of climate policy implementation. The assertion represents a fundamental lack of understanding about the unsustainability of continuous economic expansion on a planet of finite resources. This is the basis of the misalignment between our economic policies and climate commitments.
To understand this misalignment, it can be useful to apply the social science concept of “organised hypocrisy”. Organised hypocrisy is a dynamic in which a state or organisation regularly uses words, decisions and actions that are systematically in conflict with one another.
While states do not usually act hypocritically as part of a deliberate or coordinated strategy, the disjuncture between words and deeds results from attempting to satisfy the interests of multiple conflicting stakeholders. Of course, the Irish State apparatus is not alone in acting this way – but it is exceptionally good at it. Our national development has been predicated on this approach. Successive State governments have successfully straddled the process of political integration into the EU while retaining the controversial tax loopholes to remain a hub for US foreign direct investment (FDI).
Our cultural orientation towards short-term gains and a high tolerance for risk and ambiguity support this economic strategy. But to be effective in the transformative change needed to meet our ambitious climate goals, the Irish Government has to stop the hypocrisy.
The ineffectiveness of pursuing simultaneous expansion of resource-intensive industries and emission reductions is demonstrated clearly in the agrifood sector. The 4.6 per cent reduction in emissions in 2023 is a positive sign. However, according to the EPA, we are not on track to meet targets under the existing measures scenario. While projected technological advances may help, it is difficult to see how they will be sufficient to keep pace with the national strategy to increase meat and dairy exports from €14 billion to €21 billion by 2030.
Rather than constantly striving for expansion, economic growth and the accumulation of wealth, a commitment to climate justice would centre fairness and equity
A similar dynamic is emerging in the energy sector. Despite the need to constrain the growth of data centres to meet climate targets, the Government appears reluctant to do so because it is beholden to the employment opportunities technology companies provide. To stay within our carbon budgets, expanding energy-intensive data centres requires us to accelerate the decarbonisation of other forms of energy use, such as household electricity and heat production. Shifting this burden to households and families exacerbates economic inequities and is causing further division and resentment among those struggling to pay their energy bills.
While adopting this hypocritical policy approach may work for those whose success is determined by short-term election cycles, it is not conducive to facilitating the bigger transformative changes that are desperately needed. Hypocrisy and misalignments undermine public trust in climate policies and threaten public buy-in. When private sector interests are so blatantly prioritised over the public needs of Irish households, anger and frustration are inevitable. Such dynamics can undermine social cohesion and contribute to the rise of far-right sentiment.
Rather than perpetuating this misalignment and worsening social divisions, Ireland is uniquely positioned to demonstrate transformative leadership by adopting a justice-oriented approach to climate action. This involves shifting from profit-seeking priorities for some towards wellbeing priorities for all. Rather than constantly striving for expansion, economic growth and the accumulation of wealth, a commitment to climate justice would centre fairness and equity and go beyond technological innovations – such as electric vehicles and solar panels – to focus on regenerative (rather than extractive) investments in people and communities to improve human wellbeing and ecological health.
[ Ireland is one of Europe’s climate laggards despite progressOpens in new window ]
With an election likely soon on the national horizon, there is an opportunity to interrogate all candidates, regardless of their party, about their commitments to climate justice. There is a mandate to do so. The latest EPA report shows that 87 per cent of people in Ireland say the country has a responsibility to invest in climate action.
Effective implementation of transformative climate policies will also require a national cultural shift to align with a healthier future for people and the planet. Achieving our ambitious climate targets and adapting to rising temperatures and tides requires aligning policies toward transformative change. A reorientation of our economic and social systems toward public investments to support more local, regenerative, community-focused production of food energy, and other necessities is essential. While the business-as-usual, organised hypocrisy has achieved gains for some in the past, policy alignment is needed for a healthy and stable future for the people of Ireland.
Orla Kelly is assistant professor in social policy, University College Dublin, and Jennie Stephens is professor of climate justice, Maynooth University
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