None of us is economically secure, none of us are safe while we let climate change destroy lives, livelihoods and whole regions. Our very future depends on this.
- 3 min read
- Published: 23rd April 2026
Oxfam Ireland backs Earth Day motion, warning climate and energy crises are driven by inequality
Debated in Dáil Éireann on World Earth Day today (22nd April), the Green Party-led motion urges the Government to recommit to its legally binding obligations.
Oxfam Ireland has today reaffirmed its support for an Earth Day motion led by the Green Party, warning that Ireland’s failure to meet its climate targets is being driven by growing inequality – both in who causes the climate crisis and who pays the price.
The motion, debated in Dáil Éireann on World Earth Day (22 April), recognises the triple planetary crises of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss as an existential threat and calls on the Government to recommit to its climate obligations.
Oxfam Ireland CEO Jim Clarken spoke this evening at an Earth Day demonstration in Dublin in support of the motion, alongside representatives the Green Party, Social Democrats, Labour Party, Sinn Féin, People Before Profit, Friends of the Earth and the National Women’s Council.
“Climate change is the defining issue of our time. The people of Midleton, Enniscorthy, the midlands and more and more across Ireland are experiencing the impacts. Throughout Ireland and especially in our coastal cities, towns and villages people are trying to defend against extreme weather events. There are no walls we can build that will withstand what is coming, unless we act now."— Jim Clarken, Oxfam Ireland CEO
“In Europe between 1st June and 30th September 2024, there were over 62,000 heat-related deaths. Throughout Africa and the global south, climate change is causing new famines and new conflicts.
“In Zambia and Zimbabwe, I saw communities trying to deal with extreme drought followed by extreme rain, washing the crops away. Climate change is causing hunger around the world and washing away the progress that was hard fought by communities across the global south, who had little or nothing to do with creating this crisis.
“We know the frantic fight for fossil fuels is bringing illegal actions and conflict from Venezuela to Iran which is resulting in thousands dead and millions displaced and in need of urgent humanitarian assistance."
Concluding his speech, Oxfam Ireland Jim Clarken stressed that economic justice is heavily connected to climate justice.
“It is also an issue of social justice and fairness. Research carried out by Oxfam shows that the richest 1% of people emit 14 times more carbon as someone in the bottom 50%. We can build a more sustainable economy that would benefit us all. We can build more equal and peaceful societies.
"The opportunity to dramatically accelerate the development of sustainable energy is more urgent and strategic than ever. None of us is economically secure, none of us are safe while we let climate change destroy lives, livelihoods and whole regions. Our very future depends on this. I am pleased to support this motion and to support climate justice in Ireland and the world."
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Photography by Garry Walsh.
Kate Brayden, Media Officer - Oxfam Ireland
kate.brayden@oxfam.org
+353 (0) 87 749 7447
Clare Cronin, Head of Communications - Oxfam Ireland
clare.cronin@oxfamireland.org
+353 (0)87 195 2551
- Rebalancing the Scales: Confronting Carbon Inequality in Ireland was published by Oxfam Ireland on October 29th 2025.
- The Earth Day motion recalls Ireland’s 2019 declaration of a climate and biodiversity emergency and the State’s commitment to cut emissions by 51% by 2030 and reach a climate-neutral economy by 2050. The Government has acknowledged it will miss its 2030 emissions targets by a wide margin, with no emergency plan to reverse course.
- The motion highlights a series of policy failures and setbacks, including proposed legislation that would weaken the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act, delays in offshore wind and home retrofitting, underinvestment in nature restoration, and plans to deepen Ireland’s reliance on imported fossil fuels through a State-owned LNG terminal.
- These failures are deepening carbon and energy inequality, with 29% of households already living in energy poverty.
