Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Orla Kelleher @orlakelleher.bsky.social · 2d

New article by @andrewlrjackson.bsky.social and myself in the IPELJ exploring the implications of the ECtHR's climate rulings where we think through what #KlimaSeniorinnen might mean for NGO standing, constitutional rights climate cases, fair-share carbon budgeting and more.

Andrew Jackson @andrewlrjackson.bsky.social · 3d

Happy to see this new article published yesterday - co-authored with @orlakelleher.bsky.social

“The implications of the European Court of Human Rights' climate rulings for climate litigation in Ireland: a new legal reality”, in the Irish Planning and Environmental Law Journal

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Hannah Daly @hannahdaly.ie · 26d

🚨 New publication: A policy briefing report on the adoption of temperature neutrality as the basis for Ireland's carbon budgets.

This Wednesday, I will discuss this, and more, with the Joint Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy.

Róisín Moriarty @roisinmoriarty.com · 26d

Today @hannahdaly.ie and I have published a policy brief on Ireland's carbon budgets and the implications of basing them on an approach called temperature neutrality.

@ucc.ie

You can find key messages and recommendations in here ⬇️

Basing Ireland's carbon budgets on temperature neutrality would undermine obligations under the Paris Agreement

doi.org

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ejni.bsky.social @ejni.bsky.social · Aug 8

👏 Orla is currently conducting engaged research on EU and Irish climate law on behalf of EJNI.

Check out this recent piece in the @irishlegal.com on why ambitious emission reduction targets and carbon budgets for 2040 are crucial for intergenerational climate justice 🎯✊

Irish Legal News @irishlegal.com · Aug 6

Dr Orla Kelleher of Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology calls on Ireland to show greater leadership and ambition on climate action. @maynoothlaw.bsky.social‬ @orlakelleher.bsky.social‬

Opinion: Ambitious emission reduction targets and carbon budgets for 2040 crucial for intergenerational climate justice

Dr Orla Kelleher of Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology calls on Ireland to show greater leadership and ambition on climate action.

www.irishlegal.com

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Orla Kelleher @orlakelleher.bsky.social · Aug 7

Short op-ed by me explaining the importance of ambitious 2031-2040 carbon budgets and EU 2040 targets for intergenerational climate justice. These are critical moments to level with the public about the scale of the emission reduction challenge.

@maynoothlaw.bsky.social @ejni.bsky.social

Irish Legal News @irishlegal.com · Aug 6

Dr Orla Kelleher of Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology calls on Ireland to show greater leadership and ambition on climate action. @maynoothlaw.bsky.social‬ @orlakelleher.bsky.social‬

Opinion: Ambitious emission reduction targets and carbon budgets for 2040 crucial for intergenerational climate justice

Dr Orla Kelleher of Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology calls on Ireland to show greater leadership and ambition on climate action.

www.irishlegal.com

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Irish Legal News @irishlegal.com · Aug 6

Dr Orla Kelleher of Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology calls on Ireland to show greater leadership and ambition on climate action. @maynoothlaw.bsky.social‬ @orlakelleher.bsky.social‬

Opinion: Ambitious emission reduction targets and carbon budgets for 2040 crucial for intergenerational climate justice

Dr Orla Kelleher of Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology calls on Ireland to show greater leadership and ambition on climate action.

www.irishlegal.com

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Irish Doctors for the Environment @irishdocsenv.bsky.social · Jul 25

A beautiful story by our very own Orlagh Gaynor.

Climate action is about so much more than cutting emissions. A greener, more sustainable, and healthier future for all is possible 🌱

Please give it a read and share it with your friends and family 🌍

What If They Fixed It?

A hypothetical, but not impossible story by Orlagh Gaynor, physiotherapist with Irish Doctors for the Environment, inspired by ideas from…

medium.com

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Verfassungsblog @verfassungsblog.de · Jul 18

How wide is the margin of appreciation that states have when setting national carbon budgets under the ECtHR’s KlimaSeniorinnen judgment? 🌍📉

@andrewlrjackson.bsky.social and @orlakelleher.bsky.social explain why the margin is narrower than argued on this blog.

verfassungsblog.de/quantifying-...

Quote: An obligation to quantify each country’s fair share of the remaining global carbon budget associated with limiting global heating to 1.5°C flows from the judgment in KlimaSeniorinnen.

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Fred Logue @fplogue.bsky.social · Jun 11

Constitutionalising Environmental Rights - attending launch of important research by @orlakelleher.bsky.social and Mary Dobbs in collaboration with @clmirl.bsky.social from @maynoothuniversity.ie

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Orla Kelleher @orlakelleher.bsky.social · May 20

Exciting development for Irish climate law, the Supreme Court has granted leave to appeal Coolglass v An Bord Pleanála
courts.ie/viewer/pdf/4...

courts.ie

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Ola Løkken Nordrum @olaln.bsky.social · Apr 18

We’ve breached 1.5ºC.

The climate crisis is an unprecedented health crisis — through air pollution, extreme weather, food insecurity, displacement, and more.

Fossil fuel ads are fuelling the fire. It’s time to ban them. #BanFossilAds

Ban fossil fuel ads: Stop airlines, airports, cars and cruise liners from advertising

Members of Irish Doctors for the Environment outline why a push against fossil fuels is key to truly tackling the climate crisis.

www.thejournal.ie

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Joeri Rogelj @joerirogelj.bsky.social · Mar 26

With global warming closing in on 1.5C, one aspect is clear: some countries' emissions have exceeded their fair share.

To deal with this, we present the concept of carbon debt in a new paper in @pnas.org.

Lead author @setupelz.bsky.social explains in a long thread 👇🧵

Setu @setupelz.bsky.social · Mar 25

📢 New paper w/ G. Ganti @robinlamboll.bsky.social L. Grant @cjsmith.be @shonali-p.bsky.social @joerirogelj.bsky.social K. Riahi @wimthiery.bsky.social @gidden.bsky.social

We examine a forward-looking measure to guide collective efforts in the era of climate overshoot: net-zero carbon debt.

🧵

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Patrick Bresnihan @pbresnihan.bsky.social · Mar 27

Short piece written w/ @orlakelleher.bsky.social for Rundale. We discuss the anti-democratic Planning and Development Act passed last year and consider its implications for movements seeking environmental justice in Ireland.

www.rundale.org/2025/03/27/o...

Organising Beyond the Courtroom: Environmental Contestation and Ireland’s Planning System - Rundale

Where legal cases are most effective is when they are part of a broader campaign strategy combining different tactics, including direct action, demonstrations, popular education and coalition building...

www.rundale.org

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ejni.bsky.social @ejni.bsky.social · Mar 19

We have fantastic speakers lined up for our upcoming webinar on "Shaping a Fair and Effective Social Climate Plan for Ireland"🗣️

Last chance to register ➡️: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

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Hannah Daly @hannahdaly.ie · Mar 4

“A colossal missed opportunity” - a clear message in a new report from from Ireland’s fiscal and climate advisory councils.

Instead of taking action to cut emissions (making energy cleaner & more secure, & diversifying farming) we face €26 billion in compliance costs to meet EU targets

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Paul Price @swimsure.bsky.social · Feb 25

Big reason for the public view is that our politicians, department, advisory & academic experts have AGREED Irish deep climate action IS feasible,
BUT they have abjectly failed to communicate to the public what is REQUIRED: enforced limits on high emitting activities eg. diesel, dairy, data centres.

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Donal Coffey @donalcoffey.bsky.social · Feb 20

All eyes turn to the upcoming Supreme Court appeal in Coolglass, which will settle (hopefully) the legal obligations under the Climate Action Act 2015.

Hannah Daly @hannahdaly.ie · Feb 18

Ireland's energy regulator has abdicated all responsibility for setting policy in line with the climate law.

If the CRU doesn't take responsibility, then what public body will?

Hannah Daly @hannahdaly.ie · Feb 18

Ireland's energy regulator today published a long-awaited policy governing the connection of new data centres. Astonishingly, the policy makes NO provision for regulating the GHG emissions arising from data centres - which all evidence points to is very substantial - and actually..

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Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · Feb 14

Coming out soon in Public Law from @mdobbs26.bsky.social and me, an account of how environmental principles have been impacted by Brexit, looking in particular at the High Court's strained approach to the "due regard" duty in the @rightscommaction.bsky.social case:

ssrn.com/abstract=513...

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · Feb 12

A constant reminder that even if CO₂ emissions decreased annually as much as they did during the pandemic lockdown from now to 2030, we still wouldn't meet our emission target to keep global warming below 1.5°C.

A line graph depicting global CO2 emissions from energy and industrial processes, along with projections from 2000 to 2100. The y-axis represents CO2 emissions in gigatons (Gt), while the x-axis marks the years. A highlighted target to keep global temperature rise below 1.5°C in 2100 is at 20 GtCO₂/yr by 2030. Also show is a line showing decrease in emissions equivalent to what occurred during the pandemic. The line misses the target by about 8 GtCO₂/yr in 2030.

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Ali Sheridan @alisheridan.bsky.social · Feb 12

“At least €9 billion from Irish private pensions is estimated to be invested in the fossil fuel sector, new analysis by the Business Post shows.
The figures are based on sustainability disclosures for 2023 made individually by Ireland’s main private pension providers”

#TransitionRisk

Revealed: The €9 billion fossil fuel footprint in Irish private pensions

The new data shows for the first time the the average exposure of private pensions in Ireland to fossil fuels

www.businesspost.ie

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Orla Kelleher @orlakelleher.bsky.social · Feb 10

Great piece!

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Patrick Bresnihan @pbresnihan.bsky.social · Feb 10

Wrote this opinion piece with two colleagues in response to the concerted effort by Government, supported by conservative commentators and media, to undermine Irish neutrality.

Original title was 'Co-ordinated attack on our neutrality is anti-democratic'.

www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

The push to undermine Ireland’s neutrality faces public opposition

Despite growing calls for militarisation, polls show strong public support for Ireland’s neutrality as government pressure intensifies

www.irishexaminer.com

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ProfGB @profgbarrett.bsky.social · Feb 7

Glad to see the excellent article by Andrew Jackson & Orla Kelleher in the special edition of the Irish Jurist that I edited on Law in a Time of Crises was cited in today's High Court ruling by Humphreys J in Friends II courts.ie/acc/alfresco...

courts.ie

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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · Feb 4

“The need for critical minerals in terms of climate action is an assumption that we need to challenge"

Good comments from UN’s special rapporteur on climate change and human rights. The energy transition will require more minerals than we mine today - but minimising that = more chance of success

We must challenge demand for critical minerals: UN rapporteur

We need to "take a step back" and assess the full environmental and human rights impacts of mining critical minerals, says Elisa Morgera

www.climatechangenews.com

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The Journal @thejournal.ie · Jan 27

Friends of the Irish Environment is bringing the government to the High Court, arguing that it has failed to clearly outline a plan for how it will keep Ireland’s emissions within legally-binding carbon budgets.

http://jrnl.ie/6605924

Environment group brings Government to High Court over climate action plan

Friends of the Irish Environment is challenging the government’s 2023 Climate Action Plan in the High Court this week.

jrnl.ie

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RECIEL @recieljournal.bsky.social · Jan 27

🆕in @recieljournal.bsky.social: Can litigation of National Energy & Climate Plans enhance EU climate ambition? @orlakelleher.bsky.social and Clodagh Daly examine how rights-based challenges could strengthen the Fit for 55 Package implementation.

Read here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

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