More than €31bn held in fossil fuel investments
Irish-based subsidiaries of investment companies held more than €31 billion in fossil fuel investments as of June 2024, according to a new report from ActionAid Ireland and Trócaire.
Ireland's foreign direct investment model facilitates the investment.
In 2023, the investments made into fossil fuel companies by investment managers based in Ireland generated an estimated 72.5 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (CO2e). This is more CO2e than the entire country of Ireland emitted in the same year.
Siobhán Curran, head of policy and advocacy at Trócaire said: "Ireland's facilitation of fossil fuel investment on its shores is more than Ireland's yearly carbon footprint.
"While Ireland has its targets to reduce emissions and phase out fossil fuels, this is being allowed to happen here."
The top financial institutions for fossil fuel investment here were BlackRock (€18.9 billion), State Street (€4.4 billion), and Crédit Agricole (€2.1 billion).
According to the report, 91% of the investments in fossil fuel companies by investment managers based in Ireland were to companies that have plans for fossil fuel expansion.
Trócaire and ActionAid Ireland are calling on the government to tackle the climate crisis through both tax reform and corporate regulation of financial flows through Ireland that fund fossil fuels.
"Governments and financial regulators must impose strict controls on fossil fuel financing, ending tax breaks for the most polluting industries.
"A global financial system that is designed to prioritise profit over planetary survival is one that requires an urgent and deep overhaul," the report says.
The two NGOs say that Ireland and the EU are moving in the "wrong direction" in this area.
"The recently passed EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive excluded investments; and now the EU Commission's Omnibus legislative proposal threatens to undo the limited gains made on climate plans, as well as blocking future attempts for stronger action at national level," the report added.
The burning of fossil fuels accounts for more than three-quarters of greenhouse gas emissions and 90% of all carbon dioxide emissions, according to the United Nations.
The more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the warmer the global temperatures become.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued repeated warnings that the world should not warm past 1.5C. For every fraction of a degree above that, there are irreversible environmental consequences including rising sea levels, increased frequency of extreme weather events and ecosystem collapse.
Continuation of current policies on the climate crisis will lead to a "catastrophic temperature rise" of up to 3.1C by 2100, according to the latest 'Emissions Gap' report from the UN Environment Programme.
"Ireland is facilitating the reckless pursuit of profit by financial institutions and corporations, who continue to pursue further expansion of oil and gas in spite of all the warnings and at the expense of the planet," Ms Curran said.
"The massive injustice is that it is the communities Trócaire work with in climate vulnerable countries that are feeling the worst impacts of these decisions. This is grossly unfair and contrary to the Paris Agreement and the Programme for Government," she added.
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