Taoiseach must be clear  - no free passes for Big Tech in midst of climate crisis

Taoiseach’s recent comments at Stripe launch appear to reject legal action on climate grounds.

On Thursday 9 October the Taoiseach made comments [1] at the launch of Stripe’s new office in Dublin which appeared to oppose individuals going to the courts to ensure state action on climate change.

Responding to the Taoiseach, Jerry Mac Evilly Campaigns Director in Friends of the Earth, stated:

Instead of decrying potential legal action, the Taoiseach should be clear that there can be no free passes, including and especially for tech industries which are intimately tied to the expansion of polluting data centres in Ireland.

The Taoiseach is well aware that Fianna Fáil together with Fine Gael and Green introduced legislation with very clear legal obligations to rapidly and fairly reduce pollution across all sectors. His latest Programme for Government includes a further commitment to meeting these obligations.

The real risk of division and litigation arises where Government fails to act and certain polluting industries operate, or are allowed to operate, without any regard for these obligations. It’s this type of unjust approach to climate action that households and communities will take issue with.

Notes

[1] See https://www.independent.ie/business/technology/taoiseach-says-some-climate-projects-will-not-be-fulfilled-because-they-risk-polarising-society/a1378621912.html

The Taoiseach is quoted as saying: “I don’t think we can mitigate for climate change …This might be controversial, because I believe in addressing climate change. But if we get into a position where we’re going to challenge every single thing, saying it’s against the climate, we’re going to divide society fairly fast and we’ll then get a negative reaction against good, progressive policies that seek to address climate and very serious issues.”