The Drop in the Bucket Mentality
💡 Did you know?
Earth’s average temperature barely moved for thousands of years — never more than ±0.5 °C. But in just 100 years, we’ve jumped by over 1.2 °C. 1.5 °C is already dangerous — but if we do nothing, we could hit 2–3 °C, which would affect billions of people.
- At 1.5 °C: stronger heatwaves, wetter winters, and rising seas.
- At 2 °C: food shortages, mass migration, loss of coral reefs.
- At 3 °C: billions of lives disrupted, deadly heat in many regions, major cities underwater.
Ireland ranked the worst in the EU for climate action in the Climate Change Performance Index in 2018 & 2019, highlighting years of policy delay and missed opportunity. (Source: Climate Change Performance Index)
Irelands businesses, families and governmental structures emitted 3.98 tonnes of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and other fluorinated gases for every person in Ireland in the second quarter of 2022 - more than any other EU nation. And yet, Irish people consistently rank high in concern about climate change. What holds us back? Studies show many feel a drop in the bucket mentality — caring deeply, but unsure how their actions matter. Fighting climate change is really just about reducing our personal energy consumption, and making some minor sacrifices in order to protect future generations and our planet. Whilst technology and renewable energy will help us on the road, the biggest change will come from a change in behaviours that starts from individuals before becoming a collective norm. Note: In 2023, Irelands emissions fell by 6.8% as new policies began to have an affect.
Traditionally, we generated electricity by converting the chemical energy stored in coal, oil and natural gas (fossil fuels) into electricity in power stations and distributing this electricity around the country via the grid. Burning fossil fuels releases warming carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Electricity generated by wind turbines on wind farms and by capturing sunlight on photovoltaic receptors does not release carbon dioxide and increasingly supplement fossil fuel generated electricity nowadays. The aim is to become entirely independent of fossil fuels as soon as possible – “net zero” carbon emissions.
Some hope on the horizon
In 2025, Renewable energy overtook coal as the worlds leading source of electricity in the first half of this year - a historic first, according to new data from the global energy think tank Ember. Electricity demand is growing around the world but the growth in solar and wind was so strong it met 100% of the extra electricity demand, even helping drive a slight decline in coal and gas use. However, Ember says the headlines mask a mixed global picture. Developing countries, especially China , led the clean energy charge but richer nations including the US and EU relied more than before on planet-warming fossil fuels for electricity generation. This divide is likely to get more pronounced, according to a separate report from the International Energy Agency (IEA). It predicts renewables will grow much less strongly than forecast in the US as a result of the policies of President Donald Trumps administration. Coal, a major contributor to global warming, was still the worlds largest individual source of energy generation in 2024, a position it has held for more than 50 years, according to the IEA.The New Coal
Recent budget measures lifted the cap on passenger numbers at Dublin Airport and funded a new short-haul air route to Derry — even as the long-promised vehicle-weight tax and stronger incentives for our struggling rail infrastructure were delayed. These choices raise a question: who benefits most from our transport policies?
Aviation remains among Europe’s largest and fastest-growing sources of emissions, with carriers such as Ryanair appearing on the EU’s top-ten list of polluters. Yet airline executives have been prominent voices in national debates, regularly speaking at political conferences and writing opinion columns that shape public narratives about taxation, infrastructure, and climate regulation.
Public policy should be guided by evidence and the public good — not by the lobbying power of billion-euro corporations or their shareholders. When companies that profit from higher passenger numbers also influence decisions about airport expansion, the risk of policy capture grows.
Teachers, health-care workers, and public-sector employees — often targets of criticism in media commentary — are not the ones driving record emissions. The real challenge lies in ensuring that those who gain most from resource-intensive sectors contribute fairly to the social and environmental costs they create.
Building a fairer, greener economy means transparency in political donations and lobbying, stronger conflict-of-interest rules, and a tax system that rewards long-term sustainability over short-term gain.
