Step One Enter your Details The EU is making big decisions on renewables and energy efficiency as we speak. EU energy ministers will agree on new renewable energy targets for 2030 at the next Energy Council meeting on Monday 19th December. Meanwhile, negotiations are ongoing on landmark energy efficiency obligations.Improving energy savings, combined with accelerating the deployment of renewable energy throughout Europe, are the key components needed for a swift and fair energy transition. Hence, why higher ambition is needed in both the EU’s proposed Energy Efficiency Directive and Renewable Energy Directive. We know that Ireland is now facing a three-part energy crisis of affordability, pollution and supply, as a result of our fossil fuel addiction. The overall solution to these three problems, and the way to protect households and communities in Ireland, is the same: reduce our dependence on fossil fuels as fast as possible through increased renewables and energy efficiency.Take our e-action asking Minister Ryan to make sure Ireland supports the strongest measures to improve energy savings in our homes and also joins with progressive states in supporting an increased renewables target. Minister Minister Eamon Ryan (GP) Your Details Fields marked with an asterisk * must be completed. Name * E-mail * Home Address * Area / Town City / County * City / County * ----- Antrim Armagh (City) Armagh (County) Belfast Carlow Cavan Clare Cork (City) Cork (County) Derry (City) Derry (County) Donegal Down Dublin 1 Dublin 2 Dublin 3 Dublin 4 Dublin 5 Dublin 6 Dublin 6w Dublin 7 Dublin 8 Dublin 9 Dublin 10 Dublin 11 Dublin 12 Dublin 13 Dublin 14 Dublin 15 Dublin 16 Dublin 17 Dublin 18 Dublin 20 Dublin 22 Dublin 24 Dublin (County) Fermanagh Galway (City) Galway (County) Kerry Kildare Kilkenny (City) Kilkenny (County) Laois Leitrim Limerick (City) Limerick (County) Longford Louth Mayo Meath Monaghan Offaly Roscommon Sligo Tipperary Tyrone Waterford (City) Waterford (County) Westmeath Wexford Wicklow Country * Country * ------- Afghanistan Åland Islands Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua & Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia & Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Ter Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Côte D'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Ter Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle Of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea North Korea South Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Nth Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Réunion Romania Russian Federation Rwanda St Barthélemy St Helena St Kitts & Nevis St Lucia St Martin St Pierre & Miquelon St Vincent & Grenadines Samoa San Marino São Tomé & Príncipe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard & Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad & Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks & Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Viet Nam Virgin Islands British Virgin Islands U.S. Wallis & Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Constituency * Constituency * ------- Not Applicable Carlow / Kilkenny Cavan / Monaghan Clare Cork East Cork North Central Cork North West Cork South Central Cork South West Dún Laoghaire Donegal Dublin Bay North Dublin Bay South Dublin Central Dublin Fingal Dublin Mid-West Dublin North West Dublin Rathdown Dublin South Central Dublin South West Dublin West Galway East Galway West Kerry Kildare North Kildare South Laois / Offaly Limerick City Limerick County Longford / Westmeath Louth Mayo Meath East Meath West Roscommon / Galway Sligo / Leitrim Tipperary Waterford Wexford Wicklow Yes, keep me posted on your campaigning and what I can do. No, I don't want to hear from you again. Only use my personal data to deliver this campaign action. We respect your privacy, read more. Friends of the Earth will send you periodic updates and action alerts by email. We will do our best to respect your time and interest. You can remove yourself from the mailing list at any time by using the link at the bottom of emails we send you. We will not give your email address to anybody else. Check Your Message Message Subject: Edit the email subject line - (optional) Message Text: Dear (each target will get a separate, personalised email), I’m emailing you to raise concerns regarding Ireland’s position in the negotiation of the proposed Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) and proposed Renewable Energy Directive (RED). Ahead of next Monday’s EU Council negotiations on RED, as well as ongoing EED negotiations, it is essential that Ireland supports maximum ambition in targets included in these proposals as a means of underpinning Ireland’s decarbonisation and preventing further reliance on expensive, dirty fossil fuels, especially gas. We already know that significant investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency will deliver permanent cuts to energy bills, secure our energy supply, mitigate climate change and create green jobs. Higher targets for renewables and energy efficiency are not only an economic and climate imperative, but also hugely popular. The overwhelming majority of European citizens support massive investments in renewable energy. 87 percent of Europeans think “the EU should invest massively in renewable energies such as solar and wind”. On the RED, there is a growing number of Member states supporting the EU target increase to at least 45%, however Ireland is not among these progressive voices. Rather than allowing a weakening of the target, Ireland should seek to lead and demand an at least 45% target as the only realistic win-win solution to address the triple-crisis of high bills, energy insecurity, and the climate emergency. We have missed many opportunities to pivot away from the fuels driving catastrophic climate change, and we cannot afford to delay this transition any longer. While a 50% RES target for 2030 aligned with the Paris Agreement is necessary, 45% is now the preferred option given that it is the highest proposal on the negotiation table at the moment. Ireland has been a frontrunner in supporting renewable energy development at home. We need Ireland to speak up for higher energy targets and join the progressives. On the EED, little progress has been made on substantial elements of the Directive, such as fixing an ambitious level of the binding EU energy efficiency target, a robust governance regime and the exclusion of fossil fuels from the energy savings obligation. The highest energy efficiency target discussed during trilogue negotiations on the EED is 14.5%. While this does not go far enough (at least 20% is needed), there is currently a blocking minority in the Council that supports only 9%. It is crucial that Ireland seeks to break the blocking minority which is acting against an increased target in the Council. Please remember that 123 billion EUR from EU countries has flowed to Russia for fossil fuels since its abhorrent invasion of Ukraine. If such amounts had been spent on renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, and massive energy savings programmes instead, people across Europe would be far better protected from the acute energy crisis we are now in and we would be on the path to eliminating use of Russian fossil fuels. Now is the time for leadership from Ireland, not for old ‘climate laggard’ ways of thinking. Yours sincerely etc, Edit the email text - (optional) Next Step - Preview your message → Categorised in: Energy Tagged with: No New Gas