Commitments to overcoming some of the challenges facing the offshore renewable energy sector are expected to receive a boost, with early morning agreement on a new climate deal at Cop 28 in Dubai.
Minister for Climate Eamon Ryan hailed the agreement as “historic”, while former president Mary Robinson criticised it as falling short of full phase-out of fossil fuels.
Renewable energy sector businesses have expressed frustration here at the slow pace of development, while the fishing industry sector has called for far more consultation.
The new Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA) is running a public consultation on its designated area map for the south coast.
The agreement to “transition away from fossil fuels” at the UN climate talks in the UAE has elicited mixed reactions, with Marie Donnelly, chair of the Climate Change Advisory Council, noting that the fossil fuels lobby’s grip has been broken.
Friends of the Earth Ireland said that the COP28 deal was not strong enough to deliver an end to fossil fuels without global people power to drive government action around the world.
The environmental campaigning organisation cited what it identified as a “litany of loopholes” noted by the small island states most vulnerable to climate change.
It said these loopholes could allow fossil fuel interests to continue with “business as usual” unless citizens and campaigners demand systems change.
Speaking in Dubai, Jerry Mac Evilly, head of policy in Friends of the Earth said:
“The fossil fuel ‘elephant in the room’ has finally been put front and centre thanks to the tireless efforts of civil society around the world,” MacEvilly said.
“Yet the 'elephant’ remains on the rampage. COP28 broke the climate silence on fossil fuels but it has not yet broken the grip of fossil fuel interests on our energy system and on much of our political system. Today’s agreement may have signalled the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era but it does not ensure it. We the people will have to do that,” he said.