Ireland election 2024: What the manifestos say on climate change and energy 

On 29 November, Ireland will hold its first general election since before the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Voters will elect new Teachtaí Dála – members of Ireland’s lower house of parliament, the Dáil.

Climate change has not featured prominently in the election campaign so far. Indeed, the top three political parties “failed” a climate manifesto assessment commissioned by Friends of the Earth. 

Party leaders defended their climate plans during a debate on 26 November. 

Issues such as the cost of living and housing are among the top concerns on voters’ minds. A “tense” exchange between the Taoiseach (prime minister) and a disability care worker has also become a key talking point. 

The last general election in February 2020 had a historic result, with left-wing party Sinn Féin winning the largest percentage of votes for the first time. 

Centre-right parties Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, who have dominated Irish politics for more than a century, received the next highest vote shares. 

No party received enough votes to govern alone. Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael refused to enter government talks with Sinn Féin. Instead, they formed a coalition with the Green Party to create the current government.

This coalition government was due to come to an end by March 2025. Earlier this year, former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar stepped down from his post. Party leaders denied that this would spark an early election but, after months of speculation, current Taoiseach Simon Harris called the vote earlier this month. 

The top three parties remain neck-and-neck. As of polling released on 25 November, Fianna Fáil is leading with 21% of support from voters, Sinn Féin on 20% and Fine Gael on 19%.  

In the interactive grid below, Carbon Brief tracks the climate commitments made by the six most popular parties in a 25 November opinion poll, based on their latest manifestos.

This grid covers a range of issues connected to energy, climate change and nature. Each entry in the grid represents a direct quote from the manifestos. 

Update 3 December: After a three-day election count, Fianna Fáil emerged as the largest party, winning 48 seats and the highest vote share. Sinn Féin won 39 seats and Fine Gael 38. The rest went to various smaller parties and independent candidates. Just one Green party TD was elected, down from 12 in the previous vote. A government needs at least 88 TDs to form a majority and coalition talks will begin soon.