As Carlow County Council officially launch their Climate Action Plan, Orla finds out more about the plan and how every authority in Ireland is involved in trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
World Earth Day
Monday April 22nd 2024 is World Earth Day. The annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EARTHDAY.ORG including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries. The official theme for 2024 is "Planet vs. Plastics."
What better day for County Carlow to launch their Climate Action Plan than on a day that demonstrates support for environmental protection.
Orla sat down with Janette O’Brien, Climate Action Officer in Carlow County Council to find out more.
“Carlow County Council was one of the first local authorities to have their Climate Action Plan adopted. We adopted ours back in January but we were waiting for the opportunity to launch it on a poignant day and what better day than World Earth day”.
What is a local authorities Climate Action Plan?
According to the Irish government; “The local authority climate action will help local authorities to address, in an integrated way, the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change adaptation and strengthen the alignment between national climate policy and the delivery of effective local climate action.”
Janette explained more
“Every local authority has to develop a Climate Action Plan and it’s a plan to show our part on how we plan to reduce our climate emissions.”
Local authorities have to reduce their carbon emissions by 51% by 2030, and they have to reduce their energy consumption by 50% by 2030. Every authority had to focus on five key areas with one main aim; to reduce carbon emissions. The five themes are:
- Governance and Leadership
- Environment and Transport
- Natural Environment and Green Infrastructure
- Communities
- Resource Management
The Climate Action sets out how the council is going to make these changes to local county buildings such as public libraries, local infrastructure such as street lighting, how their staff travel, and much more.
You can check out your county council’s Climate Action Plan by going to their website where the plan should be set out. All South East county council’s adopted their plan in early 2024.
To learn more about Carlow’s Climate Action Plan visit the council's website at www.carlow.ie.
www.carlowlibraries.ie/environment/climate-action
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