Following a year where Storm Chandra flooded 350 Irish homes and caused €59 million in damage, new data shows that extreme weather has pushed global flood deaths to a 13-year high, with 8,123 lives lost worldwide.
Oxfam Ireland warns that Ireland risks undermining COP31 negotiations due to a “glaring and growing credibility gap” at home.
Domestic & Global Impact: Ireland experienced its hottest summer on record this year alongside destructive flooding from Storm Chandra. Globally, 107 countries hit record monthly heat, and flood fatalities reached their highest point since 2013.
Extreme Emissions Divide: In Ireland, the top 1% of earners generate 14 times more carbon than someone in the bottom 50%. Globally, the carbon pollution of the richest 1% has contributed 100 times more to extreme heatwaves than the poorest half of humanity.
“Ireland goes to COP31 with a major responsibility to help lead the EU’s negotiating efforts, but our position is severely undermined by a glaring and growing credibility gap at home. Having committed to a 51% reduction in emissions by 2030, current policies will only deliver 25% - leaving Ireland on track to overshoot its carbon budget by at least 53 million tonnes."
— Bríd McGrath, Director of Public Affairs at Oxfam Ireland
“That credibility gap costs lives and livelihoods at home and abroad. We cannot demand action from others while falling so far short ourselves. Warm words and recycled commitments will not rebuild trust," Bríd McGrath added.
“Climate action cannot become another cost imposed on those least able to afford it. By addressing inequality at home and facing up to our global responsibility, Ireland can demonstrate real leadership when it matters most.”
With Minister O’Brien serving as a co-lead of the EU delegation in Antalya, Oxfam Ireland calls on the Irish government to:
Target emissions associated with excessive levels of consumption.
Make the richest polluters pay through taxation on extreme wealth and excess profits taxes on fossil fuel corporations.
Increase efforts to fulfil Ireland’s global climate obligations, including by scaling up its international climate finance contributions.
Commit to moving beyond a focus on GDP growth to an economy that prioritises equality, wellbeing and planetary health.
Strengthen the participation of civil society and Indigenous groups in climate negotiations.
Curb the economic and political influence of the richest polluters by banning fossil fuel corporations from climate negotiations such as COP.
/ENDS
Notes to editors:
Temperature data are monthly average surface temperatures from 1940 to September 2026 from the Copernicus Climate Change Service and sourced via Our World in Data. For each country, the maximum temperature value for each month from 1940 to 2025 was compared to the monthly temperatures in 2026. In 107 countries (out of 194 where data was available), at least one country had at least one month that broke the previous temperature record.
Flood data are from EM-DAT, a global mass disaster database. According to EM-DAT, between January and September 2026 (the most recent data available) floods caused 8,123 deaths. This is the highest toll for the same period since 2013 and the second highest since 2000, when reliable records began. According to EM-DAT, the August floods in Nepal killed 6,250 people.
Oxfam's analysis of private jet data is sourced from the Private Jet Accountability Project, run by Inequality.org and the Institute for Policy Studies. The Stats Guy has developed Polluterjet, a live tracker monitoring private jets arriving in Antalya during COP31. Not all passengers on these flights will necessarily be attending the summit.
Estimates suggest that loss and damage (L&D) finance needs in lower-income countries could amount to $400 billion to $1.6 trillion per year by 2030.
“Ireland goes to COP31 with a major responsibility to help lead the EU’s negotiating efforts, but our position is severely undermined by a glaring and growing credibility gap at home. Having committed to a 51% reduction in emissions by 2030, current policies will only deliver 25% - leaving Ireland on track to overshoot its carbon budget by at least 53 million tonnes."
