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Opinion Ireland has a dirty fossil fuel secret, supported by our FDI model and weak regulation

Trócaire’s Caoimhe de Barra and Karol Balfe of ActionAid Ireland respond to new research published today, which reveals a staggering €31 billion in fossil fuel investments were held by Irish-based financial institutions in June 2024.

IRELAND IS HARBOURING a dirty fossil fuel secret, and it’s time we confronted it. While we may not drill for oil, mine coal, or produce gas, Ireland has become a tax-friendly financial gateway for some of the most destructive industries on the planet, making us complicit in fuelling the global climate emergency.

A new report released today, titled The Hidden Truth: Ireland’s Role in the Global Fossil Fuel Industry and based on research by ActionAid Ireland and Trócaire, reveals that as of June 2024, an astonishing €31 billion in fossil fuel investments were held by Irish-based financial institutions. Even more disturbing, 91% of that investment is tied to companies actively expanding fossil fuel operations in direct defiance of international scientific consensus on the need to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

Trócaire and ActionAid witness the unequal impact of the climate crisis in the communities we work with every day, who are on the frontlines of the climate crisis, despite contributing the least to its causes. This is a profound climate injustice. Devastating floods, storms, cyclones, droughts, famine, biodiversity loss and ecosystem breakdowns are having a disastrous impact on the lives of billions of people worldwide.

Investor vs planet

Climate disasters leave a litany of human rights impacts as livelihoods are destroyed, including disproportionately harming young girls and their access to education. 12-year-old Miriam from rural Guatemala and her family had their income decimated by a recent drought, which destroyed their crops. Miriam was due to go to secondary school, an hour drive away, but her parents cannot now afford the €5 a week for the bus that would take her there.

phillips-66-oil-refinery-from-ken-malloy-harbor-regional-park-wilmington-california-usa File photo: Oil refinery Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Fossil fuels — coal, oil, and gas — account for over 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and nearly 90% of carbon dioxide emissions. They are the primary driver of climate change. But for investors, they remain staggeringly profitable, both for companies and their investors. That’s why billions continue to be funnelled through Ireland to the very companies accelerating planetary collapse.

Our report names some of the financial heavyweights with significant fossil fuel-related holdings domiciled in Ireland. The top three firms are: BlackRock (€18.4 billion), State Street (€4.3 billion) and Crédit Agricole (€2.1 billion). 

london-uk-12th-december-2022-ocean-rebellion-activists-stage-a-dramatic-demonstration-outside-unitied-nations-agency-the-international-maritime-organization-imo-as-the-maritime-environmental-p File photo - Ocean Rebellion activists stage a dramatic demonstration outside Unitied Nations agency. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Ireland’s status as a conduit for climate-wrecking capital is the result of deliberate policy decisions and the outcome of our Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) model and weak national and EU regulations.

The Irish government argues that financial flows are regulated under EU directives. But these frameworks are woefully inadequate. They focus on transparency and minimal incentives for greener investments, not on curbing fossil fuel financing. Even those modest rules are now under threat, as the European Commission rolls back green finance and corporate sustainability initiatives, just as global fossil fuel use and emissions reach record highs.

a-woman-is-holding-a-placard-make-polluters-pay-in-front-of-suv-luxury-car-in-london-uk A woman is holding a placard Make Polluters Pay in front of SUV luxury car in London , UK. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Far from transitioning, the fossil fuel industry is entrenching itself, and so are its investors. Our report reveals that BlackRock, which had over €18 billion in fossil fuel investments routed through Ireland in 2024, is also pulling back on previous sustainability pledges.

There is no credible path to climate justice if financial flows to fossil fuels, including those channelled through Ireland, are not stopped. This means direct regulation of financial institutions, requiring them to adopt and implement transition plans aligned with the Paris Agreement.

Leading the way

Ireland has both a responsibility and an opportunity to lead. By ending its role as an enabler of destructive fossil fuel investments and regulating investment through a lens of human rights and environmental due diligence, we can begin to put justice and sustainability at the centre of our financial system.

Given its position as a hub for multinational financial institutions, we are calling on the Government to regulate the private financial sector to align with the goals of the Paris Agreement and end our outsized role as an enabler of fossil fuel investment. This includes prohibiting investments in projects that expand coal, oil, and gas production, as well as investments in the companies behind the expansion.

oil-pump-in-the-desert-with-dark-clouds-in-the-background Oil well Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Ireland should also introduce a strong gender-responsive national human rights and environmental due diligence framework that contributes to a global just transition. Such a law should include the regulation of investors with respect to human rights and the environment and climate.

Globally, we should support the creation of a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to halt expansion and ensure a fair, funded global phase-out of fossil fuels. In addition, new taxes at both the EU and national levels can mobilise funds for climate justice, including wealth taxes, climate damage taxes on investors, and levies on aviation and shipping.

And we can support debt cancellation and advocate for a UN framework for sovereign debt to give countries on the frontline of the climate crisis the breathing room to address the crisis.

planet-earth-with-a-conceptual-arctic-melting-from-global-warming Planet earth with a conceptual arctic melting from global warming. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Currently, the climate crisis is accelerating faster than political action to curb climate breakdown. Without urgent structural transformation, including a rapid global phase-out of fossil fuels, the world is on track for 2.6°C to 3.1°C of warming by 2100. Scientists have warned that this trajectory would be catastrophic, rendering vast regions uninhabitable.

Ireland has the power to become a leader in climate justice. We can no longer afford to look away while billions flow through our financial system into the industries destroying our planet. It’s time to stop fuelling climate chaos and to start building a future that’s fair and sustainable for all.

Caoimhe de Barra is CEO of Trócaire and Karol Balfe is CEO of ActionAid Ireland. Both INGO’s support communities in the Global South impacted by climate change, and campaign for climate justice.

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24 Comments
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    Mute Dominic Leleu
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    Apr 30th 2025, 7:17 AM

    that’s all good but the only solution they have is tax. everyone is fed up and can’t pay more. so keep talking.
    and as for electric, it is also dirty to build them, I don’t want to wait 49 minutes for a refill if I get a spot to charge, and in this country it will cost as much at the end if not already. someone thought if all these batteries disposal ? someone thought of the second hand price and cost of maintenance and battery replacement. no ? so let keep our dirty petrol and diesel.
    I could get on but all I saw when écolo were in power in different countries were only nonsense.
    plus they can’t even be agree with each others

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    Mute Basildon Joe
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    Apr 30th 2025, 7:42 AM

    @Dominic Leleu: well Dominic you cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs and there is no smoke without fire. We need to be brave to go through the transition.

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    Mute Dominic Leleu
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    Apr 30th 2025, 9:09 AM

    @Basildon Joe: is that another way to state the infamous Irish quote” what can we do about it ? “

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    Mute Athena
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    Apr 30th 2025, 9:50 AM

    @Niall English: As will electricity once there are no alternatives left.

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    Mute Thesaltyurchin
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    Apr 30th 2025, 7:20 PM

    @Dominic Leleu: Ah but we just got the leap card to go 2 stops further!!

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    Mute Tom D
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    Apr 30th 2025, 7:55 AM

    Oh no. Shock horror. Irish banks hold stocks in companies that produce products ( fuels) that we need to run civilisation and without which society would collapse and billions of people would die. Outrage. Outrage.

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    Mute 087 bed
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    Apr 30th 2025, 7:55 AM

    Spain announced earlier this week it went 100% renewable power generation, and we know what happened next.
    https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/04/22/spain-hits-first-weekday-of-100-renewable-power-on-national-grid/

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    Mute Tom L
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    Apr 30th 2025, 8:07 AM

    @087 bed: Bingo, renewable energies are a scam. The real crux is a group of new money elites want to remove power and wealth from old money elites, the plebs always get the short end of both sticks.

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    Mute Diarmuid Hunt
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    Apr 30th 2025, 8:07 AM

    @087 bed: Yes we know what happened next. Do you think they’re connected? If so how?

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    Mute 087 bed
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    Apr 30th 2025, 8:10 AM

    @Diarmuid Hunt: Do you always ask silly questions, if so why ?

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    Mute Paul
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    Apr 30th 2025, 8:35 AM

    China and India opens multiple coal fired plants weekly, but Ireland is to blame for the climate CATASTROPHE!!

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    Mute JP
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    Apr 30th 2025, 8:21 AM

    Tony Blair spelt it out yesterday. Net Zero is a fantasy…unless you would like a taste of the dark ages.

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    Mute Rian O'Callaghan
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    Apr 30th 2025, 9:40 AM

    Ah NGO funded journalists writing for an NGO funded media outlet reporting on an NGO funded research sure no bias at all here. Trot on ladies.

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    Mute Ichabod Crane
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    Apr 30th 2025, 8:35 AM

    Huge of fan of petrol and diesel. You can stuff your electric toy cars. Climate change is a scam.

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    Mute Mark Eightfourone
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    Apr 30th 2025, 8:52 AM

    More regulation? More people paid to push pieces of paper around? More expenses for businesses trying to operate? Higher prices for consumers who’re already crippled with high energy bills. All to worship at the alter of this new religion of climate action which is already a funding black-hole and makes ordinary people poorer.

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    Mute edwardjp
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    Apr 30th 2025, 8:31 AM

    Ireland for the Irish

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    Mute Marjory
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    Apr 30th 2025, 9:44 AM

    The whole article is pure claptrap spouted by a pair of NGO employed creatures whose whole income stream is contingent on this man-made climate nonsense being accepted as gospel, which it isn’t.

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    Mute Michael Reilly
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    Apr 30th 2025, 12:14 PM

    @Marjory: I thought old Trumpy had put these wasters out of business.

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    Mute jn
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    Apr 30th 2025, 8:03 AM

    back to kitchen ladies , cut down timber for kitchen presses and dig up the ground for stone and water to make concrete for kitchen floors , hey leave the dirty politics to Lowry types

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    Mute KO
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    Apr 30th 2025, 4:39 PM

    Stop.
    We are paying these 2 ,and all their colleagues, our hard earned money ,out finding themselves in God knows where, living off our dime,and lobbying our government for more tax, we do not even make a full unit in perctage of climate change…yet look at the billions we paying..

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    Mute Ed Brennan
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    Apr 30th 2025, 8:29 AM

    James Lovelock would disagree.

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    Mute Ned
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    Apr 30th 2025, 4:23 PM

    This is another in a long list of of whinging and whining from the climate zealots and tunnel vision climate cult, to say it a dirty secret is typical of the climate cult writers, the world is invested in fossil fuels and its byproducts products for reason, the world needs it.

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    Mute Padraig O'Brien
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    Apr 30th 2025, 1:36 PM

    I never knew this, nod nod, wink wink!

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    Mute Thesaltyurchin
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    Apr 30th 2025, 7:19 PM

    “Ireland has the power to become a leader in climate justice” … absolutely ridiculous, we are incapable of providing the basic groundwork for any of this. The last 20 years has proven that in spades!! our lofty aspirations vastly outweigh reality. As the top commentator states, ‘everyone is fed up’, there is no infrastructure for any of this and people are close to breaking point as a result of our punitive attitude to governance. It will continue to force people to go the opposite direction.

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