In 2021 when Ireland’s amended climate law was going through the legislative process, critics noted it contained no legal mechanism to force compliance by government. But these concerns were dismissed in the hope the obligations on public bodies and government would steer the economy and society on to a net-zero emissions pathway.

If the law is working, it should align our investment and planning decisions with commitments under the Paris Agreement. This necessarily requires a long-term view, since emissions released today will be hanging around for a very long time. On human timescales and with currently available technology, carbon dioxide that we release into the atmosphere will stay there causing climate change to worsen for thousands of years. The more we put up there, the worse the problem gets.

The uncompromising physics of climate change simply can’t be managed with actions deferred to a future date, or by relying on unproven or immature technologies, or by promising to do good deeds elsewhere.

We’re all a little bit responsible – this is true – but big emitters have a particular duty to act, as do countries. Climate cases taken by citizens around the world have sought to clarify and enforce this duty, including the Irish “climate case” taken by Friends of the Irish Environment which was ultimately successful in the Supreme Court in 2020. In 2024 in the KlimaSeniorinnen case, the European Court of Human Rights established a direct legal link between........

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