Chance for Ireland to permanently build on pandemic-related emissions drops

"It’s up to the Government to set laws, taxes, incentives, etc, to put society on the right path —fairly — which is now absent," she said.

Ms Daly was reacting to a report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) on the impact of Covid-19 on emissions. It estimated an almost 6% reduction in 2020 compared to the previous year.

The report said there are significant changes in energy-related emissions, particularly in transport and residential.

The overall reduction is comparable to that seen following the global financial crisis. 

However, the Covid-19 economic rebound will bring emissions back to previous levels without additional action, the report said.

Ms Daly concurred with the findings, telling the Irish Examiner it would be meaningless if the chance again went begging to permanently encourage changing living habits through the various measures.

A drop in CO2­­ emissions in 2020 is unsurprising given the huge drop in traffic, especially during the first wave of the pandemic, when daily traffic figures dropped by up to 90%.

Last May, researchers from Cork-based Science Foundation Ireland research centre for energy, climate and marine, MaREI, projected that emissions from road transport would decrease by around 2m tonnes of CO2 in 2020, with less impact in other sectors. That has been borne out by the data, Ms Daly said.

"However, traffic reductions will last only as long as the lockdowns do, after which emissions will rebound. Transport emissions could even increase if people start to move to the countryside enabled by teleworking and become more car-reliant. 

"The pandemic has not changed the fundamental drivers of Ireland’s greenhouse-gas emissions problem, which are our heavy reliance on fossil fuels for transport and heating buildings, inefficient homes, over-reliance on private cars, more SUV sales, and intensive agriculture," she added.

To meet the Government target of halving greenhouse gases by 2030, Ireland will need to have sustained emissions reductions greater than the 6% in 2020 each year. It is now far from being on track to achieve that, she said.

Air quality is also a major issue, Ms Daly said. Some 1,200 premature deaths occur every year in Ireland because of poor air quality.

"The pandemic also has not made a meaningful impact on the most harmful form of air pollution, particulate matter, which arises from people burning solid fuels in their homes in built-up areas. 

"The huge loss of life, livelihoods, and wellbeing as a result of the pandemic is not a sustainable model for climate mitigation."

Many adults unsure what key climate crisis terms mean

A significant portion of the population are unsure of the meaning of various climate crisis-related terms, a survey of parents of young children has found.

Research of 2,000 Irish and British parents of children under 5 found that while more than nine in 10 were keen on buying eco-friendly products, around a third were confused by some of the words associated with climate change.

Carbon-negative, carbon-neutral, eco-friendly, sustainability, and zero-waste caused some of the biggest confusion.

When it comes to choosing baby products, the most confusing eco-term for parents is biodegradable, with more than a third not truly understanding what it means, the survey said.

While 92% of parents of children under 5 said it is important to buy products that are eco-friendly, some 81% find labelling on baby products confusing, it found.

Trying to be climate-conscious has brought societal pressure for the vast majority of parents, the survey found.

Some 88% of parents feel under pressure to do the best for their baby and the planet when choosing baby products, while a third said they sometimes felt judged by other parents when buying baby products that were not eco-conscious.

The market research was carried by Irish baby product firm WaterWipes.

According to Ireland's Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) own glossary, biodegradable waste is "organic waste, typically coming from plant or animal sources — for example, food scraps and paper — which other living organisms can break down".

Carbon neutrality "arises when the amount of carbon dioxide released into the air equals the amount of carbon dioxide removed from the air, for example by planting trees, or the amount saved by using renewable energy sources to produce the same amount of energy", the glossary says.

Eco-friendly simply means not harmful to the environment, according to the Oxford Dictionary, while the United Nations has defined sustainability as "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".

Climate and weather have also caused confusion, when erroneously used interchangeably, even befuddling world leaders. 

Former US president Donald Trump has notoriously mixed up the two concepts when dismissing the urgency of climate action.

According to the EPA, climate is the pattern of weather in a particular region over a set period of time, usually 30 years. 

"The pattern is affected by the amount of rain or snowfall, average temperatures throughout the year, humidity, wind speeds and so on. Ireland has a temperate climate, in which it doesn’t get too hot or too cold," the EPA glossary says.

Climate change, the EPA says, is a change in the climate of a region over time due to natural forces or human activity.