The cost and consequences of not slashing Ireland’s emissions are “beyond compare”, the country’s environment minister has warned.

Eamon Ryan said the science on climate change is unequivocal, and warned that the window for taking action is closing.

The landmark report from the UN has warned that humans are unequivocally driving global warming.

It found that the world will reach or exceed temperature rises of 1.5C, a limit countries have pledged to try to keep to in order to avoid the most dangerous consequences of warming, over the next two decades.

Mr Ryan said that Ireland has to halve its emissions in the next decade and reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century.

The Green Party leader said it will need a “huge change”.

“I believe it can be changed for the better.

“I believe in how we change our energy system, our transport system, our food and land use systems,” he told RTE.

“We can do it in a way that actually makes a better country, but doing nothing is not an option.

“It’s that scale of change, that scale of ambition is what we need.

“The science is now ever clear, ever unequivocal that if we don’t make these changes, the cost of inaction, the consequences of not bringing our emissions down, are but beyond compare.

“It’s our future that what we’re talking about. We need to start now and we are prepared, we have proper legislation in place that sets out the structure of how we do it.”

He went on to warn that the window for action is closing.

Mr Ryan said that a budget will be brought to the Dail later this year that will set out the Government’s plan to tackle climate change.

Sinn Fein TD Darren O’Rourke said the report was “very stark”.

Mr O’Rourke was critical of the Climate Action Bill over what he said was a lack of public involvement and lack of provision for a just transition.

“I think fundamental to the effort around climate change needs to be around bringing people with us,” the party’s spokesman for climate action said.

“It’s clear in our mind, that measures that are punitive, carbon taxes, increases in electricity and energy prices that are punitive and that leave communities behind, will not do, will not suffice, and will fail to deliver on on our climate objective.”

He called for the Government to invest in public transport in rural areas to give people the opportunity to leave the car at home.

“That’s a significant problem that this Government needs to address,” he added.

Sinn Fein senator Lynn Boylan said: “We’ve got the Climate bill. Are we 100% happy with it? No we’re not.

“But we need to move on with it now.

“Ireland needs to move from the space of being a laggard to being a leader on climate action and it can do that.

“But you have to bring people along with you on that process.

“There has to be a just transition at the core of all climate action.

“The pandemic has given us a test run of what’s required to deal with a global crisis, which is what climate change is.”