Phil Kearney
@philkearney.bsky.social
270 followers 440 following 78 posts
Desperado, Friend of #FridaysforFuture, Green. Dublin/Wicklow.
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philkearney.bsky.social
Full credit to @autofac.bsky.social, Prof John Sweeney, @hannahdaly.ie & @swimsure.bsky.social for authoritative and persuasive presentations to the Joint Oireachtas Committee.
swimsure.bsky.social
🇮🇪Out Now:
Good new science-informed "Report on proposed Carbon Budgets" from (parliamentary) Oireachtas Joint Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy'.

Recommendations 1-10 echo scientific & eNGO concerns for CB transparency in meeting Paris Agreement goals.

data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachta...
Title page Ireland JCCEE Report on the proposed Carbon Budgets:

An Comhchoiste um Aeráid, Comhshaol agus  Fuinneamh  Tuarascáil maidir leis Buiséid Charbóin atá beartaithe  Deireadh Fómhair 2025  

Joint Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy  Report on the proposed Carbon Budgets  October 2025  

34/CEE/02 Joint Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy  Report on the proposed Carbon Budgets  October 2025, p 13-14.

"18. Expert scientists who subsequently presented to the Committee acknowledged  the Council’s responsiveness however, having reviewed the CCAC’s cycle 2 ‘Paris  Test’ analysis, held the view that it remains unsatisfactory, highlighting several  concerns, particularly in relation the statutory requirement for consistency with  Article 2 of the Paris Agreement. The Committee heard that for the purpose of the  test, the Council chose not to compare the peak of Irish warming contribution to  the peak of global warming around 2050, but rather compare the significantly  lower Irish warming contribution as of 2100 to the projected global peak in 2050.  Experts warned the Committee that this approach ‘amounted to comparing apples  and oranges’, and if adopted, would allow collective global scenarios where the  temperature peak could substantially exceed the 1.5°C limit. In addition, the test  relies on the reference year of 2020 as a basis for equitable differentiation. It was  noted by Professor McMullin that this “directly conflicts with the professional  ethical advice commissioned by the council itself” which found that choice of year  “lay well outside the climate ethics consensus”. Professors McMullin and Sweeney  noted that 2015, the year the Paris Agreement was signed, is the latest possible  “defensible” year for determining differentiated responsibilities and capacities Report on the proposed Carbon Budgets  under Article 2 of that agreement. The Committee also notes from its submissions,  other analysis which demonstrate that none of Council’s recommended  temperature neutrality scenarios would pass the CCAC 2021 ‘Paris Test.’.  Professor John Sweeney emphasised that equity principles and climate justice  demand more ambitious mitigation or more limited budgets from countries such  as Ireland." Ireland JCCEE Report on the proposed Carbon Budgets, Recommendations 1-4:

1. The Committee recommends that the Council’s carbon budget proposal and reports  are subjected to an open and independent peer review process. The Committee is of  the view that the Minister and Government should consider, following the conclusion  of the independent peer review, aligning targets in line with the previous ‘Paris Test’  and not temperature neutrality as proposed in the draft budget. The adoption of  2015 as the year of reference for the basis of equitable differentiation is also  encouraged, as is the use of a comparable reference year of 2050 to measure  Ireland’s contribution to peak global warming.  2. The Committee recommends that prior to finalisation of the Carbon Budgets for  2030-2025 and 2035-2040, the Minister should request that CCAC review their final  carbon budget proposals to ensure that they are consistent with;  - The achievement of the National Climate Objective including climate neutrality,  defined as net-zero all GHG emissions by 2050.  - Article 2 of the Paris Agreement, including both the temperature goals and the  principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective  capacities”.  3. The Committee notes the importance of gaining insights from those with specific  expertise and for providing opportunities for wider societal engagement.  Acknowledging witness approval of the IPCC open peer review process, the  Committee recommends that the CCAC engage an open-access system whereby  people can volunteer to provide comments and feedback on the development of  carbon budget proposals. Such system would require the CCAC to publish draft  forms of ongoing reports, making them available for peer review.  4. The Committee recommends the clear identification of major barriers inhibiting the  achievement of Ireland’s climate goals and resulting in the exceedance and rollover Ireland JCCEE Report on the proposed Carbon Budgets, Recommendations (4 continued to 10).

4 continued: of the carbon budgets, noting that failure to meet targets in each budgetary cycle  will have a carry-over impact on subsequent budgets and does not adhere to the  principle of fairness between global north and south.  5. The Committee recommends that while finalising or revising the carbon budgets,  and subsequent sectoral allocations, the Government immediately prepare credible  measures to ensure a Just Transition across all sectors of society.  6. The Committee recommends that the Government immediately conduct a review  into the efficacy and adequacy of the Just Transition measures employed during the  first carbon budget and to produce a report and recommendations within 6 months.  7. The Committee recommends that the Council’s carbon budget proposal and reports  are subjected to an open and independent socio-economic analysis.  8. The Committee recommends that while finalising or revising the carbon budgets and  subsequent sectorial emissions ceilings, the Government immediately prepares  credible measures to ensure the carbon budgets are delivered without undermining  with other priorities that have a mandate from the public, including critical  infrastructural and strategic priorities.  9. The Committee recommends that, in light of the projected exceedance of the first  two carbon budgets, there should be an urgent review and increase of actions to  facilitate the just transition to a sustainable low-carbon economy and society. The  scale of the challenge and ambition must be communicated effectively and clearly to  all sectors of society.  10. The Committee recommends the phase out of fossil fuels at the earliest possible  date and their replacement with sustainable energy produced in Ireland, to form the  central part of the state’s energy strategy.
Reposted by Phil Kearney
whittledaway.bsky.social
I've been privileged to get my hands on a review copy of @thinkorswim.bsky.social's fantastic new book which is an important chronicle of Ireland's climate failures (and occasional successes). Lot's of people will want to read this!
Reposted by Phil Kearney
roisinmoriarty.com
🧵THREAD on agri-methane and ‘no additional warming’

Why is it so important to reduce methane (CH4) emissions from agriculture in the near term?

What happens when countries like #Ireland use ‘no additional warming’ to set climate targets?

PAPER: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

(1/18)
Screen grab of paper title, published in Environmental Research Letters, 12 August 2025. Title reads: National temperature neutrality, agricultural methane emissions and climate policy: reinforcing inequality in the global food system. Duffy et al 2025.
Reposted by Phil Kearney
colmduff.bsky.social
If “no additional warming” replaces net zero, is that progress — or backsliding?

Ireland is our case study in a new paper 🔗 doi.org/10.1088/1748...

We found it:
(1)Grandfathers high emissions from wealthy livestock nations, (2)Shifts burden,
(3) Fails on food security

#Methane #ClimateJustice
National temperature neutrality, agricultural methane and climate policy: reinforcing inequality in the global food system - IOPscience
National temperature neutrality, agricultural methane and climate policy: reinforcing inequality in the global food system, Duffy, Colm, Doedens, Carl, Moriarty, Róisín, Daly, Hannah, Styles, David, M...
doi.org
Reposted by Phil Kearney
swimsure.bsky.social
However, the ongoing & increasing critique of the Irish agri-food sector is ignored by this Review. Scientific, agricultural experts, NGOs & small farmers see it.
Complacency benefits the sector's big profit-takers in the short-term, but the public & nature bear the cost.
The CCAC could say so.
/fin
philkearney.bsky.social
Friends of #FridaysforFuture, Dublin, Week 344.
‘We live for a few short decades, if we are lucky, on this miraculous planet. It’s remarkable, and we ought to pay attention to its everyday glories. We are nature, you and me; it isn’t something abstract’ @herdyshepherd.bsky.social, James Rebanks.
philkearney.bsky.social
Friends of #FridaysforFuture, Dublin, Week 343.
‘Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?’
philkearney.bsky.social
Don't stay silent on Gaza. Netanyahu's actions violate human rights and Europe needs to act.
I've just emailed EU politicians to demand the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

➡️ Send your email now and make a difference. share.greens-efa.eu/s/JKiMWZKN
No business as usual with Israel: Demand action from Europe
share.greens-efa.eu
Reposted by Phil Kearney
banktrack.bsky.social
BREAKING! The 16th #BankingOnClimateChaos reveals that fossil fuel financing from the world’s top 65 banks has reached $7.9 TRILLION since 2016. See how your bank is using your money at bankingonclimatechaos.org #DefundClimateChaos #BOCC
Banking on Climate Chaos 2025 - Banking on Climate Chaos
The world’s 65 biggest banks committed $7,900,000,000,000 over 9 years to the fossil fuel industry, driving climate chaos & deadly health impacts.
bankingonclimatechaos.org
Reposted by Phil Kearney
swimsure.bsky.social
John Gibbons @thinkorswim.bsky.social is in barnstorming environmental communications form in this week's Last Word podcast with Matt Cooper @mattcooperlastword.bsky.social on TodayFM.
Next week you can send in questions for the extended 200th edition!
thinkorswim.bsky.social
Pod of this week's Last Word on the Environment with Matt Cooper on Today FM is now online. We discuss unsustainable fishing practices, latest EPA #climate report, plummeting global insect populations - and more.

www.todayfm.com/podcasts/the...
Campaigners Call For Sustainable Fishing Measures Off The Cork Coast
www.todayfm.com
Reposted by Phil Kearney
swimsure.bsky.social
An Taisce submission to Carbon Budgets Consultation:
"The Climate Change Advisory Council’s (CCAC’s) Dec. 2024 carbon budgeting proposal basis for the 2031-2040 recommendations is non-compliant with the requirements of the Climate Act 2021 in two key aspects"
1/2
www.antaisce.org/Handlers/Dow...
Page 1 of An Taisce's submission to the Carbon Budgets Consultation:
"An Taisce would like to make the following observations on the above consultation.
3rd June 2025
The Climate Change Advisory Council’s (CCAC’s) December 2024 carbon budgeting proposal assessment basis for the 2031-2040 recommendations is non-compliant with the requirements of the Climate Act 2021 in two key aspects:
• The CCAC failed to assess their recommendation in any defined equity terms. Therefore, contrary to the legally binding provisions of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2021 (as amended), their recommendation failed to be "consistent with" Paris Agreement Article 2, specifically 2(2) requiring climate action implementation on the basis of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC).
• The CCAC provided no comparison of their "climate neutrality by 2050" test of its scenarios with the 1.5ºC "Paris Test" used in their 2021 Carbon Budget Technical Report recommendations. The CCAC ethicist's report found that the 2021 CB basis was at best only a minimal contribution to climate action by Ireland in global equity terms (meaning it was very generous to Ireland), yet no such Paris Test reassessment was made on the new recommendation.

Climate Justice
The CCAC ethicist's report highlighted that the previous 2021 Carbon Budget basis was conservative, at best:"
Reposted by Phil Kearney
zeteo.com
Zeteo @zeteo.com · May 31
“We are watching a systematic starvation of 2 million people. A live-streamed genocide & the world's silence is deadly. That is why we have to keep trying everything we can, even if the odds are against us.”

Zeteo contributor Greta Thunberg shares moments from the Madleen.
philkearney.bsky.social
‘It is valuable and disturbing to know that grand oak trees can take 300 years to grow, 300 years to live and 300 years to die. Such knowledge, seriously considered, changes the grain of the mind.’ @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social in ‘The Wild Places’, p. 100.
philkearney.bsky.social
Friends of #FridaysforFuture, Dublin. Week 338. International visitors giving much appreciated support. Attending launch of @trocaire.bsky.social’s ‘Fuelling Injustice’ report. Essential reading at t.co/IVfksIPoxP
Reposted by Phil Kearney
irishrainforest.bsky.social
The new Save Our Sprat campaign will be holding a public demonstration in Bantry Square at 11am on Friday (day after tomorrow), calling for a moratorium on sprat fishing in Irish waters.

I'll be there, can you come along too? The more, the better!! ✊️✊️✊️
🐟 🌊 🦭 🐋 🐳🌊
irishrainforest.bsky.social
"Seas off Cork a 'marine desert' due to overfishing of sprat, says owner of whale-watching business."

Sprat, the basis of entire ecosystems, is being hoovered out to turn into fishmeal, an *insanely* wasteful process.

Who or what gives them the right???
www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster...
Seas off Cork a 'marine desert' due to overfishing of sprat, says owner of whale-watching business
Skipper Colin Barnes said the whales have left his search area of ocean off Cork because the sprat they feed on has been fished to near extinction
www.irishexaminer.com