Full coverage: Environment

Harold Hutchinson, Head of Equity Research at Investec, believes policymakers have taken a narrow approach to the climate crisis and that a more holistic approach is required. He also believes Ireland can play a major role in developing renewable technologies.

The stubborn public perception that someone else will have to change their lifestyle to cut greenhouse gas emissions can give the impression that only innovation will solve the problem. The government's home retrofit scheme reaches into this gap.

Ten business leaders at the forefront of the transformation to a low-carbon future share their hopes and fears as Ireland gets to grips with global climate change.

The publication of the Climate Action Plan and the mixed reaction to COP26 at the end of last year set the scene for an acceleration of climate policy. This two-part series explores the joined-up approach required to harness the power of business in this effort.

The Climate Change Advisory Council has laid out what is feasible to cut Ireland’s greenhouse gas emission by half in ten years. It boils down to balancing disruption between the power, transport and heat used by every home and business or the agri-food sector supporting entire rural communities.

Of the many transport situations where driving a car makes little sense, business trips are the most obvious. The tax treatment of expenses claims offers one of the many avenues needed to tackle the disproportionate cost of the drive-everywhere mindset.

The Climate Change Advisory Council is about to publish Ireland’s first carbon budgets, which will set hard limits on greenhouse gas emissions for the next decade. Its chair Marie Donnelly details, step by step, how this overall figure will translate into obligations for individual ministers, businesses and households.

With no momentum to tackle greenhouse gas emissions, removing carbon from the atmosphere is our next best hope of slowing global warming. Yet planting trees is not happening either, which means it is time we put the right price on it.

In a special podcast, Stephen Kinsella, Sinéad O’Sullivan, John Reynolds and Thomas Hubert watch the dust settle on the two climate change reports published last week and discuss ways of meeting the challenge ahead for politics, society and business.

Greenhouse gases, mitigation, emissions, targets... Behind the complexity of the science and the jargon, the policy options to tackle climate change are becoming increasingly clearer. Some industries and companies are suffering, others are benefiting. Since its launch, The Currency has been covering all cases.