Taoiseach’s pro-LNG comments make a mockery of his climate statement to world leaders

Responding to the Taoiseach’s pro-LNG comments made at COP30 on Saturday [1], Jerry Mac Evilly Campaigns Director in Friends of the Earth stated:

“The Taoiseach’s comments that LNG ‘can’t happen quick enough’ make a mockery of his statement just two days previously in which he called on world leaders to listen to the science and act with urgency in the face of climate collapse [2].

His comment that such a project is a ‘security imperative’ continues to ignore the risks of LNG for our climate obligations, as well as the reality that it is reliance on gas itself that is the main driver of our energy insecurity. His comments also completely ignore promises in his own Programme for Government to radically reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.” Jerry Mac Evilly continued: “Genuine climate leadership means taking seriously the Climate Change Advisory Council’s concerns regarding the massive emissions associated with a polluting LNG terminal [3]. Truly listening to the science means responding to the appeals of prominent Irish energy and climate scientists earlier this year to ensure reductions in gas demand and compatibility with the climate law. [4]

One would also expect the Taoiseach to be alive to the fact that reliance on polluting LNG, likely to cost close to a billion in public money [5], will result in a new levy on customers’ bills - and all this coming at the very time the Government is being lambasted for having the highest electricity prices in Europe with already unacceptably high levels of energy poverty.”

ENDS

Notes:

1. See https://www.irishtimes.com/environment/climate-crisis/2025/11/07/lng-cant-happen-fast-enough-says-taoiseach-as-cop30-grapples-with-ending-fossil-fuels/
2. See https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-the-taoiseach/speeches/national-statement-by-the-taoiseach-cop30-bel%C3%A9m-thursday-6-november-2025/
3.     The Climate Change Advisory Council’s 2025 Annual Review of the Electricity Sector can be read and downloaded here - See analysis and recommendations regarding risk of LNG on page 17.

4. See https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/commentanalysis/arid-41583031.html