A Clontarf woman says she is “shocked and disgusted” a firm based in the Dublin suburb is looking for “new sources of fossil fuels in far flung places” like Australia, Chad and Ghana.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has repeatedly slammed the continued use of fossil fuels saying the firms behind them “have humanity by the throat” and our choice is “collective action or collective suicide”.
Christine Hynes and her Extinction Rebellion Ireland colleagues held a protest outside Clontarf Energy Plc’s Dublin 3 office on Thursday.
Read more: Warning Ireland will feel effects of climate change in 'big way' amid heatwave
The activists say they requested to meet the UK-registered firm, which describes itself as an “emerging lithium, and oil & gas exploration & production” company, to discuss the climate and environmental impact of their business model in May.
But they didn’t get a response so today, they are taking their message to the company’s Dublin office.
Christine said: “Climate experts have made it crystal clear that unless we dramatically and urgently reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the climate crisis will spin out of control.
“In this context, seeking any new sources for fossil fuels - the very fuels that are at the root of the climate crisis - is profoundly immoral.”
XR activist, scientist and Phd student, Jeffrey Sardina, said: “The IPCC reports tell us that continued human survival on Earth is dependent upon rapid, deep and immediate reduction of carbon emissions.
“That’s the antithesis of what this and other fossil fuel companies are doing.”
Protestor Maureen O’Connor from Newbridge added: “It’s absolutely outrageous that companies like Clontarf Energy Plc are still investing in finding new sources of fossil fuels when a liveable planet depends on us leaving in the ground most of the fossil fuels that have already been discovered.
“We must stop searching for new sources of fossil fuels - considering we can’t even use all that we currently have access to without frying the planet”.
Angela Deegan, Drumcondra, said: “Our message to Clontarf Energy Plc is that our lives are worth more than your profit. We demand that you meet with us to plan the transformation of your business model away from fossil fuel extraction.”
Clontarf Energy Plc is listed on Companies House with a London address and previous company names including Persian Gold Public Limited Company, Persian Gold Limited and Caribbean Gold Limited.
Its website says the firm’s head office is on Clontarf Road, Dublin 3.
Company chairman David Horgan said they are “fairly open to meeting people from the communities we work in” and asked if any of the delegation was from Australia, Ghana or Chad.
We asked if the company plans to move away from fossil fuels because of their climate impact.
He said: “Fossil fuels are 82% of global primary energy, and will dominate this century’s energy markets.”
Mr Horgan says he is “also involved with the Guarani indigenous people who want us to rehabilitate 50,000 hectares of degraded pasture”.
He adds that the firm has previously “produced clean natural gas to high ESG standards” and “our oil production in Bolivia was modest”.
“Natural gas is a clean fuel, with almost no particulates and only half the C [carbon] emissions of coal,” he continued.
“There can be no intermittent wind-power generation in Ireland without gas back-up.
“Oil has about 65% of the Carbon footprint of coal, so also clean – though not as clean as gas.”
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