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Friends of the Irish Environment v. An Coimisiún Pleanála (Galway Ring Road Planning Decision) - complaint

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Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) has intervened in a planning permission decision under consideration regarding the potential approval of a ring road around the city of Galway. It argues that the proposed Ring Road fundamentally conflicts with national climate objectives.

FIE, relying on the Climate Action Plan 2025 that mandates a 20% reduction in vehicle kilometres travelled and a 50% cut in fossil fuel use in the transport sector, alleges that the Ring Road will facilitate continued growth in private car use and urban sprawl rather than supporting these goals. FIE concerns that the new project will lock in long-term carbon emission. FIE further contends that the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) published by An Coimisiún Pleanála has systemic deficiencies for failing to include mitigation measures, which are necessay under § 15 of the Climate Action Act & Low Carbon Development Act  2015 (as amended), and for the failure to include the assessment of alternatives, required by the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive. FIE submits that the plan is inconsistent with the national Climate Action Plans 2024 and 2025, the Carbon Budgets, the Galway County Council and Galway City Council Climate Action Plans, and the EU and international law commitments.

Friends of the Irish Environment v. An Coimisiún Pleanála (Galway Ring Road Planning Decision)

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

A tax advantage is an economic benefit applied to certain accounts or investments that are, by law, tax-reduced, tax-deferred, or tax-free. This can apply to investments in areas such as green energy projects or the agricultural sector, where tax advantages can help manage financial risks.

Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

Using laws and the legal system more broadly to protect vulnerable entities

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Conditions that enhance the feasibility of adaptation options. Enabling conditions include finance, technological innovation, strengthening policy instruments, institutional capacity, multi-level governance and changes in human behaviour and lifestyles.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

Social inclusion is the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society—improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity.

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

The activities of industries that transforms raw materials into finished goods through industrial processes.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

Friends of the Irish Environment v. An Coimisiún Pleanála (Galway Ring Road Planning Decision) - complaint

Target

Policy instrument

Just transition

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance