IRELAND HAS been named among the 30 worst countries for delivering on its CO2 emissions targets.
According to the report from the World Health Organisation, Unicef, and The Lancet, Ireland is on track to emit 208% more CO2 than its 2030 emissions target.
It’s a situation that is likely leave Ireland facing hundreds of millions of euro in fines for continually failing to cut its carbon emissions.
Worse still, the report warns that a failure to tackle the dangerous emissions levels could have a devastating impact on the health of young people in Ireland.
The lack of action could also spark rising ocean levels, heatwaves, and the proliferation of diseases, the report warns.
Ireland is placed 154th on the report’s global ranking of 180 countries for sustainability and delivering on emissions targets.
A commission of some 40 child and adolescent health experts conducted the report, which warns of the potential threats being faced by children as a result of climate change, pollution, ecological degradation and exploitative marketing practices.
The study acknowledged that while there was significant progress when it comes to improving child and adolescent health over the past two decades, progress had stalled.
Should emissions continue at this level then the report represents global warming could exceed 4c by 2100, in a development that could have serious health consequences and a grave impact on water supplies and ecosystems.
Despite the bleak outlook, Ireland nevertheless ranked fifth in another index which factors in health, education and nutrition to determine which nations offer children the best start to life.
