located: | Ireland |
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editor: | Shira Jeczmien |
Ireland’s latest bill that marks the country’s significant divestment from fossil fuels should not only celebrated as the first of its kind around the world, but because if passed, this divestment will be a trophy that it is possible for countries to shift their seeming reliance on this polluting energy source.
Just last month Ireland was ranked the second to last country in NGO Climate Action Network Europe’s (CAM) report ‘Off target Ranking of EU countries’ ambition and progress in fighting climate change’ – with Poland ranking last. The report outlined how Ireland has so far achieved a meagre 8 percent on its progress towards implementing the 2020 Paris Accord targets with a 0 percent ranking on its promotion of EU targets and strategies. After analysing Ireland’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels and thus its lag behind other EU member states, CAM concluded that “Ireland is set to miss its 2020 climate and renewable energy targets and is also off-course for its unambitious 2030 emissions target.”
In response, last Thursday July 12, Ireland’s lower house of Parliament signed off a bill that requires the state’s national investment fund to sell off more than $300 million in fossil fuel investment, held in approximately 150 companies trading with coal, gas, oil and peat “as soon as is applicable", which according to The Guardian means a five year deadline. Furthermore, Reuters has reported that the bill also prevents any new investment in the industry.
The bill is now set to rapidly go through the upper house of parliament and predicted to go into effect by the end of this year. As said by Thomas Pringle, independent politician and Teachta Dála for the Donegal constituency since the 2011, “The movement is highlighting the need to stop investing in the expansion of a global industry which must be brought into managed decline if catastrophic climate change is to be averted.”
While Ireland is the first country to unitedly divest from all fossil fuels, a number of other countries are not too far behind this hopeful new era. In 2015 Norway voted to sell its holdings in the coal industry and in the U.S., several states are making headway in meeting the 2020 Paris Accord demand and 2030 emission target – with or without Trump behind them. In January New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio announced he will divest $5 billion of its $189 billion holdings in fossil fuels investment funds.
What makes this move by Ireland most significant is not necessarily its message to countries (or states) already conscious and working towards meeting international standards and massively reducing the catastrophic effects of burning fossil fuels, but the loud echo it will send across the globe to countries still heavily reliant on fossil fuels who are too afraid of the economical effects of such divestment. Despite many skeptics and economic analysts who believe that divestment from fossil fuels will be disastrous for a country’s economy, investment news media Impact Alpha has written that “Divestment is a wise financial decision judging by the performance of fossil-fuel free portfolios. Reallocating that capital to innovative new technologies that support clean, renewable energy can also improve portfolio performance.”
The divestment from fossil fuels should not be taken as a polite suggestion but as a united global movement to reduce the catastrophic impacts of climate change. Countries at the forefront of the movement should be hailed for their bravery and their journey through a path desperately in need of carving.