Full coverage: Environment

The south coast of Dublin has been radically reimagined as a haven for cyclists. The Currency's Tom Lyons takes to his bike and meets the man driving the project.

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.”

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.

Michael O’Dwyer got the idea for his business as a young engineer ridding Dublin’s sewers of grease and fat. He now leads an exciting startup that has just closed a new fundraising round with big-name backers.

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.

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.

Depending on who you talk to, the government’s move to increase Carbon Tax was either too much too soon or too little too late. Either way, the tax needs to be a stepping stone to a different Ireland. And that involves changes our systems of production.

Global research shows that tackling farming practices, diets and food waste at the same time is the only way to achieve meaningful cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

For businesses, Tuesday’s budget means higher energy taxes, tightening criteria to access green incentives and a slow roll-out of support schemes for renewables.