Full coverage: Climate change

For the first time in five years, new renewable electricity generation sites have been selected to receive government support, unlocking a new wave of pent-up investment, construction and corporate deals in the sector.

Bundled solutions taking the risk and the upfront cost out of switching to low-energy lighting, electric vehicles or solar panels for businesses are now needed for households. Industry and the new government have been tiptoeing around this model – it is time they take the plunge.

The majority of policies agreed by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party to achieve the transition towards a greener economy were already known from previous commitments or set in EU legislation. Yet a new level of ambition is emerging, with concrete actions most clearly spelled out in transport – and a lot left to be teased out in agriculture.

Norman Crowley has set his global carbon efficiency business on a path to double revenue every year – although he acknowledges a nine-month setback from Covid-19. As the Greens are set to enter government here, does he expect a policy boost to his business? “No.”

The head of global agribusiness Alltech finds himself hosting the first virtual edition of his company’s popular annual industry conference. He discusses how food production can navigate “the next normal”, and why his $3 billion firm remains private even as it enters new areas of digital technology and medicine.

While political agitation focuses on the already agreed target of a 7% annual cut in greenhouse gas emissions for the next decade, the real question is whether the next Government will agree to spend Covid-19 recovery funds in a way that makes low-carbon technologies more attractive than increasingly cheap fossil fuels.

Stricter environmental auditing requirements are coming, and the next government should help business get ready to turn Ireland into a climate technology leader, says the Green Party’s leader – but he sees no need to reform planning laws to facilitate this.

ChannelSight co-founder John Beckett is on a mission to get tech companies to offset their greenhouse gas emissions by planting trees. He tells Tom Lyons about the latest developments at Forestry Partners and at his main online marketing business.

Brexit and climate change combined looks certain to create problems for Ireland's shared energy supply between the north and the south. The solution? An integrated risk agency.

Sustainable building materials, carbon-neutral homes and quality housing represent one sector where Ireland could set the global pace for the implementation of new technologies. All we need is a designated experimental town.