A report published today by Climate Action Network Europe indicated that Ireland, while very green in color, is not as environmentally green in practice.

According to The Journal, Ireland has such a low ranking on this list because of their staunch opposition to climate action on a national level and in accordance to EU climate change measures, as the report stated.

2nd worst in EU on climate change action and facing fines of €500 million despite huge potential to be so much better! How can the government continue to fail its people on this and get away with it? https://t.co/F3WIcK9fak

— Green Party Ireland (@greenparty_ie) June 18, 2018

The report also stated that Ireland is due to fall short of its 2020 climate and renewable energy targets and will most likely fail to meet its 2030 emissions goal.

The report states: “Ireland needs to join the group of progressive EU Member States calling for increased EU climate ambition and deliver urgent, near-term emissions reduction.”

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The main challenge in facing climate change for Ireland would be the transport and agriculture sectors, which have seen massive increases in emissions over the past few years. If proper regulations are not put in place to cut emissions, Ireland could face yearly penalties of around $580 million.

Ireland ranked second worst in Europe for tackling Climate Change. It is a sign of the lack of vision and interest by this Government and past Governments to deal with this major problem. pic.twitter.com/Q3A3i4UDmX

— Brian Stanley (@BrianStanleyTD) June 18, 2018

To avoid this yearly charge for non-compliance, the Irish Government has to stick  to its National Mitigation Plan, which states that Ireland is “committed to reducing emissions and building a climate resilient low-carbon transport sector by 2050.”

Right now, the countries with the highest rankings for combating climate change, such as Sweden, Portugal, France, and so on, have all remained mostly on-track for meeting their climate control targets and have all invested heavily in renewable energy sources.

However, no country occupies the top spot for meeting climate goals from the Paris Agreement since they are all not fully compliant with the targets put forth. The agreement itself features proposals at tackling climate change, yet these are still largely insufficient in ensuring that temperature increase is kept at an absolute minimum.

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