Five Degrees of Change

‘I was a carbon criminal ... from a work perspective, I used to travel too much’ – Diarmuid Torney

The associate professor in Dublin City University’s school of law and government is the latest guest on the Business Post

Diarmuid Torney of DCU: ‘We are moving from an era where climate change is a sectoral policy to one where it needs to be embedded at the core of what the state does.’ Picture: Fergal Phillips

As a seasoned expert in climate governance, Diarmuid Torney spent many of his early years in academia deeply frustrated at the lack of action by the Irish state on climate change.

“There were relatively few people to share that frustration with. The environmental community on the academic side and in terms of activism and policy, was pretty small,” he said.

“One of the encouraging things over the past few years has been the growth in ...