This month Ireland voted and passed a “first-of-its-kind fossil fuel divestment legislation” that called for a complete divestment from fossil fuels.
On January 27th, a majority vote was passed in parliament’s lower house, the Dáil. This will make Ireland the first country in the world to “fully divest its sovereign wealth fund from coal, oil and gas.” The wealth fund is world over €8 billion.
The bill had the support of all political parties with the exception of Fine Gael and will now go to the Committee stage in the Irish Parliament.
As Éamonn Meehan of Trócaire, a key member of parliament and a huge supporter of the legislation stated:
“With a climate-sceptic recently inaugurated into the White House, this move by elected representatives in Ireland will send out a powerful message. The Irish political system is now finally acknowledging what the overwhelming majority of people already know: That to have a fighting chance to combat catastrophic climate change, we must phase out fossil fuels and stop the growth of the industry that is driving this crisis.”
You can view a video of part of the historic moment here.
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