How Ireland is tackling climate change issues

WHAT does Ireland need to do in the next eight years to meet its climate targets by 2030?

That is the focal point of a Prime Time - Climate Special which runs all next week on RTÉ.

A digitally led project, rte.ie/primetime will host a week of in-depth analysis and data from Monday morning, publishing every day, as well an extended dedicated live programme on Thursday on RTÉ1 at 9.35pm.

This programme will contain special reports on switching to electric cars and living a low-carbon lifestyle, and will hear from experts, politicians and ordinary people, examining whether Ireland can meet its ambitious carbon reduction targets, and if we do, what is on the other side.

Also, Minister for the Environment and Transport Eamon Ryan, along with a panel, will discuss government responsibility, and individual and collective responsibility.

With the war on Ukraine raging, all week Prime Time will engage on the urgent issues such as Europe’s dependence on Russian oil, which compromises climate targets, and what is the state of play on our energy alternatives.

Reporter Oonagh Smyth reviews Ireland’s climate goals and addresses the obstacles standing in the way of achieving them in transport, energy, land use and agriculture.

Prime Time also reports on Ireland’s car-buying habits, asking if we are on the right road with the million electric vehicles pledged by 2030, and looks at the difficulties facing consumers trying to make a smart choice.

With the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warning of a small and rapidly closing window to act on the issue, reporter Conor Wilson explores this ‘sliding doors’ moment for Ireland and what it will mean to live a low-carbon life.

In this, he speaks to architect Dermot Bannon, who takes viewers through some of the changes needed when it comes to future living, such as being able to walk around your home in an ambient temperature in the depths of winter.

Bannon addresses the scale of the issue, saying: “Our housing stock is very, very poor. The average house in Ireland is a D1 rating, which is really poor in comparison to the rest of Europe. Our country has got to do half a million homes in the next eight years and that is a massive boulder to push up a massive hill”.

Conor Wilson reports from the Dingle Peninsula where locals are creating new ways to keep emigration at bay, and at the same time are adapting for the climate change impacts already hitting their shores.