Full coverage: Climate change

When Covid-19 decimated revenue from energy projects, Norman Crowley refocused his business on its data-crunching software. Now CoolPlanet is adding mining EVs to its offering and Crowley is upfront about what works and what doesn’t (especially livestock farming).

The fiscal costs of climate change are going to be very large, there is no getting around that. We just need to decide when to incur the costs, and at what speed to adjust our way of life. We have chosen, so far, to do neither.  

Backed with €68 million of ISIF money, the $4 billion New York investment firm Energy Impact Partners is seeking companies to back while nurturing Ireland’s climate tech ecosystem.

A major new report from the Fiscal Advisory Council has modelled the impact of climate change on our finances and it is not pretty. It is high time our politicians started explaining those costs to people as honestly as possible.

High steel prices and demand for green standards have pushed developer Newpark Real Estate to switch to timber frames for its latest industrial buildings. Its financial backer Bain Capital supports the move.

Dublin's proposed ban on the demolition of large buildings is intended to reduce carbon emissions. It will increase carbon emissions, increase housing costs, lengthen commutes and reduce walkability.

Dublin-headquartered Carbon Collect has a prototype to suck carbon out of the atmosphere, partners in Arizona and is short-listed for US government funding. Its Irish co-founder Pól Ó Móráin is seeking backing to scale up in 2026.

I am going to park the soft talk, guilt and greenwashing and get on with it. I’ll see precisely what can be done by a small company to make a positive environmental impact, and I’ll be back here in six months to tell you how we got on. The truth, without any green varnish.

The climate policy narrative is often framed as a prisoners' dilemma, but another way of thinking about it is a fight for the sectoral and ideological balance of power, with green and brown sectors squaring off to determine winners and losers. The solution? Stuff the losers' mouths with gold.

Tonnes of CO₂ and percentage changes in greenhouse gas emissions don’t make much sense in themselves – until you visualise them against the available carbon budgets set in Irish law.