Politicians 'must not be afraid to ruffle feathers locally' if Ireland is to cut emissions

UCC professor in sustainable energy and energy systems modelling, Hannah Daly, was responding to estimates that Ireland's carbon emissions rose by 20% in the first half of this year. Picture: Darragh Kane

Ireland will not reduce emissions without political courage locally. Community representatives will need to be unafraid of “ruffling a few feathers” along the way.

That is according to one of Ireland’s sustainable energy experts, who was reacting to estimates from the European Commission’s data analysis service that Ireland increased its emissions by 20% in the first three months of the year.