Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I had the privilege of participating in the national climate stakeholder forum on 22 March this year. The forum was chaired by Professor Alan Barrett, director of the ESRI, and focused on realising the opportunities presented by the transition to carbon neutrality in a fair and equitable manner. The forum comprised a series of one-day deliberative workshops attended by more than 120 delegates, who discussed four priority areas where we aim to accelerate activity, as I said earlier. The areas were offshore renewables, retrofitting, sustainable mobility, including active transport and modal shift, as well as in the engagement, communications and climate literacy part that we need to get right in this regard. I received recommendations from each workshop. My Department will produce a short report on these recommendations that will inform the next climate action plan and sectoral policies. It is my intention that national climate stakeholder forum will meet three times each year. I will invite Government colleagues and Members of the Oireachtas to the next two events planned for later this year, where they will be offered the opportunity to hear from stakeholders to discuss the recommendations emerging from the March event and explore how we can deliver on them.

See this speech in context