Ireland is the second country in the world to declare a ‘climate emergency’, but the Government must face up to promoting potentially unpopular hikes in carbon taxes, writes Kyran Fitzgerald.

Australia sweltered through its hottest month on record in January and the summer of extremes continued with wildfires razing the drought-parched south and flooding in expanses of the tropical north.

The State climate change watchdog says the Government’s draft plan for reducing carbon emissions lacks substance, detail and analysis about how the objectives are to be achieved.