2024 WAS THE hottest year on record and the world is warming even faster than scientists had predicted.

In Ireland, we have legislation purporting to halve emissions of greenhouse gases by 2030, our National Biodiversity Action Plan was recently assessed by the World Wildlife Fund as among the best in Europe while politicians (most of them at least), talk a good talk when it comes to the need for action.

Yet implementation where it matters remains poor. Agriculture and fisheries, together the biggest pressures on the environment across a range of metrics, remain unreformed. Although overall emissions are coming down, we are way off track to meet targets according to the Climate Change Advisory Council, while transport emissions are going up.

Little is being done to address the impacts of forestry and degraded peatlands, despite a clear mandate for action given to the last government. Apart from the fact that they kicked the Greens out of the Dáil, a majority of voters in an exit poll on the day of the election said that the government did not go far enough in pushing the Green agenda.

These contradictions point to a lack of democracy and accountability in our political system. Although Ireland scores relatively well in the quality of our democracy when compared with other countries, it is also the case that democratic control over important aspects of how our country is run........

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