The EU is built on partnerships and collaboration. It works because member states commit to pulling their weight, particularly on cross-border challenges like climate change. Climate change policy within the EU relies on the key principle of trust that every country will do its part. Today, we learned in The Irish Times that Ireland might be trying to buy its way out of delivery by funding renewable projects abroad rather than meeting targets at home. That is not partnership; that is avoidance. That avoidance will come at a cost to Irish households and the Irish environment. We cannot adopt an attitude where we deal with failure by paying someone else to cover it. Failure is dealt with by addressing and correcting it. Writing checks to send abroad will not save our environment. It will not put solar panels on roofs or help households cut their electricity bills. It will not protect them from energy shocks or increase their energy resilience. Ultimately, climate action is energy security action. Writing checks to send abroad will export opportunities. It will improve conditions abroad while ignoring the struggles of people at home. All this does is weaken trust in this Government, which is already fragile. People have been asked over the past decade or so to change their attitudes and how they travel, live and heat their homes all in the name of climate action, and people have done so. Those asks coming from the Government, however, are unfair if the Government is not willing to act with the same urgency it expects of everyone else. Climate action is not just a box-ticking exercise; it poses a real threat and it must be met with action on the ground in our communities. This Government cannot outsource that responsibility or our environment will pay the price.

Sentiment score: -0.06