Europe’s Laudato Si’ Movement has called on Ireland to introduce a windfall tax on fossil fuel profits and commit to a fast, fair phase-out of coal, oil and gas as part of the EU Presidency.
The movement, named after the encyclical by Pope Francis on climate change, was established to “inspire and mobilise” the Catholic community to achieve climate and ecological justice.
At a meeting yesterday between European Church representatives and the Taoiseach, the Government was warned that EU competitiveness “should not come at the expense of social cohesion, climate action, rural development or human dignity”.
The call has been co-signed by more than 170 Christian organisations across 21 EU Member States, including Irish signatories Trócaire, Christian Aid Ireland, the Association of Missionaries and Religious of Ireland (AMRI), the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice, the Council for Migrants, Refugees and Justice & Peace of the Irish Episcopal Conference, Knock Shrine and Misean Cara.
Laudato Si’ Coordinator for the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Martin Hayes, linked Ireland’s recent hot temperatures in to an overreliance on fossils fuels.
“In advocating for values, in the spirit of Laudato Si’, I discern that the EU may have to accept less growth to ensure that we respond to the cry of the poor in the Global South affected by climate change.
“Rather than continuing to extract from the earth to sustain our economies, we must deepen our appreciation of the gift of the earth and its ecology to provide for the common good,” he said.
The coalition has called for a legally binding strategy to exit coal by 2030, gas by 2035, and oil by 2040, with an immediate ban on new fossil fuel exploration.
It has suggested a permanent windfall tax on the “massive profits” of fossil fuel companies, to finance the energy transition and shield vulnerable households from the cost-of-living crisis.
It also called for an investment in energy efficiency, renewable energy, electrification and the circular economy.
The group wants human dignity and social justice to be prioritised over corporate interests in the upcoming seven-year EU budget.
