Thread by @Env_Pillar

As we've said before - #Budget2022 is the Government's opportunity to put its money where its mouth is when it comes to our dual climate and biodiversity crises.

So with what we've seen so far - how did they fare? (1/x)

@Irishwildlife @foeireland @SCC_Ireland @BirdsMatter_ie @Paschald @mmcgrathtd @MichealMartinTD @LeoVaradkar @EamonRyan At a first look - there are some wins for climate and biodiversity in here, but we still have a long way to go when it comes to putting these centres at the 💚 of our budgetary decisions (2/x)

@Irishwildlife @foeireland @SCC_Ireland @BirdsMatter_ie @Paschald @mmcgrathtd @MichealMartinTD @LeoVaradkar @EamonRyan 🏃We need to move faster

For example, the Government committed to retrofitting 22,000 homes in this budget through ringfenced carbon tax revenue. But we have a national target of 600k homes to be energy efficient by 2030. We need much swifter action to meet this goal. (3/x)

@Irishwildlife @foeireland @SCC_Ireland @BirdsMatter_ie @Paschald @mmcgrathtd @MichealMartinTD @LeoVaradkar @EamonRyan 🦌NPWS measures are a good first step

The body saw its funding restored to pre-recession levels in this Budget, but this is the bare minimum the Government could do. We need to see 📈year-on-year funding & staffing in order to meet the scale of the biodiversity crisis (4/x)

@Irishwildlife @foeireland @SCC_Ireland @BirdsMatter_ie @Paschald @mmcgrathtd @MichealMartinTD @LeoVaradkar @EamonRyan 💰 the Gov needs to widen the eligibility criteria for fuel allowance

Carbon tax is increasing & there's also rising energy costs set to continue for the next few months. We need to make sure everyone can affordably heat their home & not live in energy poverty. (5/x)

@Irishwildlife @foeireland @SCC_Ireland @BirdsMatter_ie @Paschald @mmcgrathtd @MichealMartinTD @LeoVaradkar @EamonRyan We'll be continuing to delve into #Budget2022 over the coming days to get the full picture - but what we can say so far is that while there are some wins here, big strides are still needed for the Government to be adequately addressing the climate & biodiversity crises (END).