Beats nations such as Sweden and Norway, as parliament passes first-of-its-kind fossil fuel divestment legislation
Ireland may soon become the world’s first country to fully divest from all fossil fuels. The news was shared by 350.org, a grassroots global movement working to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis.
Ireland’s parliament passed the ‘first-of-its-kind fossil fuel divestment legislation’ with a majority vote. All political parties, with the exception of Fine Gael, indicated their strong support for the Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill – a piece of legislation getting Ireland’s Strategic Investment Fund to divest from fossil fuels. Today, this bill has passed. The Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill will now go to Committee stage in the Irish Parliament.
“With a climate-sceptic recently inaugurated into the White House, 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,” said one of the parliamentarians.
The bill could enable Ireland to fully divest their sovereign wealth fund, which is worth more than 8 billion Euros or around $8.5 billion, from oil, gas, and coal. Fossil Free Europe and Trócaire reported that the bill passed in the Irish parliament’s lower house, the Dáil. Fossil Free Europe described the event as “an important moment in the history of the divestment movement.”
Ireland has beaten nations such as Norway and Sweden, whose governments have already passed resolutions to go fossil fuel-free as soon as possible. The two Scandinavian nations could be second and third after Ireland to go fossil fuel free.
This could be the beginning of nations going fossil fuel-free. In September 2016, the Indian government sad that it will exceed the renewable energy targets set in Paris last year by nearly half and three years ahead of schedule.
A draft 10-year energy blueprint published this week predicts that 57 per cent of India’s total electricity capacity will come from non-fossil fuel sources by 2027. The Paris climate accord target was 40 per cent by 2030.
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