Ireland's love affair with fossil fuels is an oil-soaked slippery slope
People salvage parts from their destroyed home following heavy rains caused by Cyclone Freddy in Malawi in March 2023. 56% of those affected by Cyclone Freddy's impacts were children. File photo: AP/Thoko Chikondi
The global fossil fuel industry is raking in staggering profits while fuelling the climate crisis that is wreaking havoc on the planet.
While the global conversation has increasingly focused on reducing reliance on fossil fuels like oil and gas, government action has been neither sufficient nor urgent enough.
As the world now faces the escalating impacts of this climate crisis — from drought and coastal erosion in Honduras, to storms here in Ireland — Trócaire's latest report examines Ireland's role in supporting the continued growth of this unsustainable industry, which endangers billions of lives around the world.
Launched just last Thursday, our report, 'Fuelling Injustice – Ireland's Fossil Fuel Problem', explains that the emissions from just 25 oil and gas corporations between 1985 and 2018 caused more than $20 trillion in damages, while at the same time amassing profits of $30 trillion.
Such figures starkly highlight the injustice of the situation.
Wealthier nations in the Global North, where emissions are highest, have not taken the lead in reducing their carbon footprints, instead allowing climate-harming corporations to operate primarily without regulation.
This negligence manifests as a human rights crisis across the globe, with marginalised communities—who have contributed the least to climate change—suffering the most. They face extreme weather, loss of lives and livelihoods, displacement, and hunger, pushing them deeper into poverty and amplifying existing inequalities.
Globally, governments continue to enable the expansion of this destructive industry, often at the expense of the world’s most vulnerable populations.
Alarmingly, by 2030, governments collectively plan to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels required to stay within the critical 1.5C warming limit, set by the Paris Agreement.
This completely disregards the scientific consensus, the necessity of phasing out fossil fuels to mitigate further climate impacts, and violates the agreements and obligations to protect and support those who have done the least to cause this crisis, but who are suffering the most.
It may not surprise many to read that Ireland is falling short of its commitments, but by how much is truly shocking. Current government policies and private sector initiatives are facilitating an increase in the country's fossil fuel demand and infrastructure, (such as plans for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facilities) and the proliferation of data centres.
These plans directly contradict Ireland's climate obligations and risk entangling the country in human rights abuses linked to continued high greenhouse gas emissions and excessive energy demands.
Claims that dependence on more polluting, fossil fuels is a solution to energy security couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality, it only exacerbates vulnerability to geopolitical shifts and price shocks.
Right now, Earth is projected to reach a sobering 2.6 – 3.1°C of warming by 2100. However, if the rest of the world had polluted like Ireland, the world would already be at 3.6°C of warming.
Ireland is on a slippery slope to missing our emissions reduction target of 51% by 2030, with just a 23% reduction expected. Even before you consider the impacts of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities and the energy use of projected data centres, Ireland’s ambition and delivery on climate action falls far short of our fair share.
These shortcomings alone are due to cost the country €26 billion — an alarming sign of a government failing to meet its obligations.
Ireland's role as a global financial hub further complicates the issue. With substantial investments in fossil fuel companies through Irish subsidiaries, Ireland is directly and significantly implicated in the climate crisis.
In June 2024, Irish investment firms held roughly €31.76 billion in fossil fuel assets, 91% of which were tied to companies actively expanding fossil fuel production.
The emissions linked to these investments exceeded Ireland's national emissions by a staggering 20%, underscoring the need for accountability on these activities, which is currently lacking.
The climate crisis is fundamentally a human rights crisis, and there have been increasing calls from human rights treaty bodies for a complete fossil fuel phase-out and stringent regulations against corporations responsible for damage both at home and abroad.
In Malawi where Trócaire works, 56% of those affected by Cyclone Freddy's impacts were children. Following Cyclone Freddy, hundreds of health facilities were disrupted, while displacement camps faced limited access to sanitation and medical care, leading to a surge in the spread of cholera, malaria, malnutrition, covid-19, and other vaccine-treatable diseases.
This is what climate injustice looks like: those who do the least to cause the crisis are paying the highest price. Children, women and the world's most vulnerable are losing everything.
It is time for a decisive shift away from fossil fuels. Ireland can be a key player in this transition by endorsing a global Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, by prohibiting new fossil fuel infrastructure, and swiftly implementing policies that promise a just phase-out of fossil fuels domestically, and urgently reduce emissions.
Every fraction of a degree of warming holds dire consequences, making every tonne of carbon pollution critical. Ireland must urgently align with the global call for action to mitigate against catastrophic climate breakdown. It's time to hold both polluters, states, corporations, and their investors accountable.
To address our complicity in the climate crisis, Trócaire is calling on the Irish Government to implement a Climate Damages Tax on fossil fuels investments, which could generate up to €3.33 billion by 2030 and €20 billion by 2050. This would help partially address the ecological debt incurred from exceeding our fair share of carbon limits.
Additionally, leveraging public finance to compel polluters to pay for their contributions to the crisis could provide critical resources for climate finance commitments and support marginalised communities; a Climate Damages Tax and other measures available to Ireland that would make polluters pay could generate up to €9.7 billion annually.
Failing to act decisively compromises our environment and increasingly stains our moral fabric as a nation responsible for national and global human rights. The time to act is long overdue.
- Sinéad Loughran is Climate Justice, Policy, and Advocacy Advisor at Trócaire
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