In its four-year analysis of the state of the country’s environment, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not pull its punches, saying “indicators are going in the wrong direction across many areas”. The lack of an overall national strategy means "the sum of the parts does not make up a coherent whole", said the EPA. “The overall quality of Ireland’s environment is not what it should be, and the outlook is not optimistic unless we accelerate the implementation of solutions across all sectors and society,” said EPA director general Laura Burke. The state of the environment report, completed every four years, said that Ireland has underachieved in curbing emissions and meeting stated targets. While, overall, many of the national environmental indicators are going in the wrong direction, good actions were being taken at local level in many areas, it said.

Source: Irish Examiner November 24, 2020 23:02 UTC