Climate & Sustainability - Irish Examiner

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Climate and Sustainability

<p>Now in its 14th year, the Plant Hunt contributes to our understanding of how wild and naturalised plants across Britain and Ireland are responding to a changing climate. Max Connolly finds a primrose. Picture: James Harding-Morris </p>

outdoors

Flowers are great... until they bloom at the wrong time

Results of the 16th annual New Year Plant Hunt show how our weather is changing, impacting flowering times and other wildlife — birds, bees, butterflies, and a wide range of pollinators — that depend on our wild plants

<p>A search and rescue team transporting locals yesterday in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, after the River Slaney burst its banks. Picture: Patrick Browne</p>

news

Call for emergency co-ordinators to have adequate records of people with disabilities ahead of storms

<p>Hedgerows, which have been previously included in the Eco-Scheme, have been removed with the proposed changes.</p>

farming

Proposed changes to Eco Scheme a 'meaningless measure'

Value, not sustainability, is driving the second-hand fashion boom

comment-analysis

Value, not sustainability, is driving the second-hand fashion boom

Power plant

news

Only 32 fossil fuel firms account for half of world’s CO2 emissions, study shows

Mexico Seaweed

news

Scientists warn of ‘regime shift’ as seaweed blooms expand worldwide

Cars For Sale Stock Lot Row.

No more oil changes: Ireland's car dealers face a changed landscape as electric vehicle sales surge

Direct sales to customers also threaten to upend the sector

Mon, 19 Jan, 2026

Mountain stream flows through granite boulders in Glenmacnass valley, County Wicklow, Ireland

The invisible carbon in Ireland’s waters

Dissolved organic carbon may be one of the most underestimated pressures on Irish waters. About 20% of our land area is covered by peat and peaty soils, which are among the most carbon-rich ecosystems on Earth. That makes Ireland uniquely vulnerable to large losses of carbon from land to water

Fri, 16 Jan, 2026

Cop28

Scientists confirm 2025 as third-hottest year on record

The result "underscores the urgency of halting the heating of Planet Earth and growing climate impacts by rapidly cutting greenhouse gases across all sectors of society", said Prof Richard Allan, climate scientist at the University of Reading.

Wed, 14 Jan, 2026

Plan approval doesn't show Ireland 'rolling out the red carpet' for data centres, say ministers

Plan approval doesn't show Ireland 'rolling out the red carpet' for data centres, say ministers

The ministers said grid investment would be substantial in the years to come to make Ireland’s energy grid able to meet future demand

Tue, 13 Jan, 2026

New electric car registrations show significant recovery in 2025

New electric car registrations show significant recovery in 2025

To reach the Government's climate goal of 845,000 private electric cars on the road by 2030, 650,000 electric cars will have to be registered in the next five years

Tue, 13 Jan, 2026

Tirlán expands water quality learnings across Co-op catchment

Tirlán expands water quality learnings across Co-op catchment

Tirlán set to expand its 'Farming for Water' project in an effort to improve on-farm economic and environmental performances with members

Tue, 13 Jan, 2026

Whitelee Windfarm

Telling the truth about Ireland’s climate future

To avoid the political polarisation we see in the US, climate action needs to remain a shared national priority, grounded in evidence rather than ideology

Tue, 13 Jan, 2026

Natural sources of protein on dark background.

There's no such thing as a binary choice on food ethics

Choosing beans over meat is being sold as a simple solution to our ethical woes, but the evidence is rarely so straightforward, writes Orla McAndrew

Mon, 12 Jan, 2026

‘Profound impacts’: Record ocean heat is intensifying climate disasters, data shows

‘Profound impacts’: Record ocean heat is intensifying climate disasters, data shows

Oceans absorb 90% of global heating, making them a stark indicator of the relentless march of the climate crisis

Fri, 09 Jan, 2026

Cold enough to remember

Cold enough to remember

Ireland has lived through colder climates than this, and what stands out in hindsight is not collapse, but continuity. During the Little Ice Age (from roughly the 14th century to the mid-19th century) people adapted to altered seasons and unreliable weather without knowing they were living through a climatic shift

Fri, 09 Jan, 2026

Global warming increasing risk of severe weather events, Met Éireann warns

Global warming increasing risk of severe weather events, Met Éireann warns

Met Éireann says record-breaking warmth is intensifying storms, flooding and rainfall extremes as Ireland mirrors global climate trends

Tue, 06 Jan, 2026

MTU launches Ireland’s first pilot biorefinery in Kerry

MTU launches Ireland’s first pilot biorefinery in Kerry

The facility will develop technologies that convert the country’s grasslands into a range of products, including high-quality animal feeds, human-grade protein, prebiotics, flavours and bioenergy

Tue, 06 Jan, 2026

Lense

Ireland’s 2025 environmental review — and a look ahead to 2026

Ireland did not experience a single defining climate disaster in 2025... climate change in Ireland now operates less as a headline-grabbing event and more as a persistent context

Fri, 02 Jan, 2026

Social enterprises can be powerful drivers of climate action

Social enterprises can be powerful drivers of climate action

In an era of increasingly severe storms, social enterprises are reusing, repurposing, and recycling resources in innovative ways — while also reinvesting back into their social cause

Wed, 31 Dec, 2025

Aerial view of the coastline of Inishbofin, Co. Galway.

Ireland has a chance to get it right on protecting our seas

Ireland has a once-in-a-generation chance to legally protect nature in our seas and along our coasts, and we need to do it properly, writes Jack O’Donovan Trá

Tue, 30 Dec, 2025

'Midleton flood left my family in despair': Cork residents write to Government about their plight

'Midleton flood left my family in despair': Cork residents write to Government about their plight

Midleton, Mogeely, and Rathcormac residents prominent among those making submissions to the consultation stage of the Accelerating Infrastructure plan

Tue, 30 Dec, 2025

Scenic green valley and colourful rhododendron bushes in the Vee, Knockmealdown Mountains, Ireland.

Habitats report a stark contrast to nitrates decision

Biodiversity collapse is not a lost cause, but Government failure to prioritise it is devastating for all those working on nature restoration

Mon, 22 Dec, 2025

AI boom has released same amount of CO2 in 2025 as New York City has, report claims

AI boom has released same amount of CO2 in 2025 as New York City has, report claims

Study author says tech companies are reaping benefits of artificial intelligence age but society is left to pay cost

Thu, 18 Dec, 2025

Ireland needs 'significant shift away from private car use' to meet climate commitments, report says

Ireland needs 'significant shift away from private car use' to meet climate commitments, report says

Private car use was leading source of transport energy demand last year, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland report found

Wed, 17 Dec, 2025

Man with planet earth in hands

Only half of HSE steering group attended meetings to discuss its climate action plan

The internal audit also noted the lack of a 'comprehensive, consolidated database on the impact of extreme weather events... on Irish healthcare facilities'

Wed, 17 Dec, 2025

Herd of Friesian cattle

Stephen Cadogan: Ireland's derogation has bucked the trend of EU dairy decline

Perhaps the Irish nitrates situation has allowed the EU to show it too is concerned for the future of EU dairying, writes Stephen Cadogan

Tue, 16 Dec, 2025

People riding bicycles in Paris, France.

Emmanuel Macron: Ten years after the Paris Agreement, let's redouble our efforts

France has made a clear choice to put ecology at the heart of all its economic, planning, energy, agricultural and industrial policies, writes President of France, Emmanuel Macron

Mon, 15 Dec, 2025

SPAIN-FIRE-CLIMATE-ENVIRONMENT

2025 'virtually certain' to be second- or third-hottest year on record, EU data shows

Copernicus deputy director says three-year average for 2023 to 2025 on track to exceed 1.5C of heating for first time

Tue, 09 Dec, 2025

Challenges around infrastructure are finally being tackled

Challenges around infrastructure are finally being tackled

Implementation of the list of 30 actions set out in the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce report is critical for Ireland’s ambitions to meet its climate targets, and for our future economic development

Mon, 08 Dec, 2025

EU to fast-track construction of cross-border power connections

EU to fast-track construction of cross-border power connections

Energy Highways plan is intended to improve network efficiency, cut prices, and reduce the EU’s reliance on imported fossil fuels

Fri, 05 Dec, 2025