Ireland has just announced that they will officially stop all investments in fossil fuels, including coal and oil, which makes them the first country in history to pass the forward thinking bill.
The announcement by Ireland’s parliament, which is part of an €8 billion government fund, gathered the majority vote of 90 to 53 in favour of stopping all fossil fuel investments using the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF).
Eamonn Meehan, Trócaire Executive Director, said in a statement, “This move by elected representatives in Ireland will send out a powerful message. The Irish political system is now finally acknowledging what the overwhelming majority of people already know: That to have a fighting chance to combat catastrophic climate change we must phase out fossil fuels and stop the growth of the industry that is driving this crisis.” (source)
The independent politician, Deputy Thomas Pringle said: “This principle of ethical financing is a symbol to these global corporations that their continual manipulation of climate science, denial of the existence of climate change and their controversial lobbying practices of politicians around the world is no longer tolerated.”
“We cannot accept their actions while millions of poor people in underdeveloped nations bear the brunt of climate change forces as they experience famine, mass emigration and civil unrest as a result.” (source)
This move hopes to lead the way for many other countries and inspire them into a cleaner energy movement.
Norway is also leading the way by setting a national target for the country to be completely carbon neutral by 2030.
China recently announced a plan to shut down a total of 104 coal-fuelled projects across 13 provinces in a new initiative that they are calling an anti-coal stance. (source)
The world is slowly waking up and other countries can learn A LOT from this!
Sources:
– Truth Theory;
– Go Fossil Free;
– Irish Central;
– Futurism;
