Full coverage: Environment

After extensive experience in the energy industry, Paul Mulvaney has set up a new consultancy. His stint as managing director of The Irish Times brought him to prominence and his exit from the publisher generated headlines.

Running your business sustainably begins with understanding what you’re talking about. From biodiversity to zero waste, this is a quick guide to the words behind the action.

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.  

The budget is making funding available for both short-term and long-term investments in Ireland's sustainability. Two questions help assess its promises: Is it enough? And is it fair?

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.

Farmers and politicians are flocking to this week’s Ploughing in an atmosphere of distrust after the nitrates derogation was repealed. The missed opportunity to turn excess farm waste into biogas illustrates poor joined-up thinking in national policy.

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.

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.

As EU ministers including Ireland’s adopted the proposed Nature Restoration Law last week, speakers at Alltech’s Dublin conference promoted technology instead of restrictions to achieve environmental goals in agriculture. This debate is far from over.