Irish parliament declares climate emergency

Greta Thunberg says Dublin decision to follow British MPs' lead is 'great news'

Ireland's parliament has become the second after Britain's to declare a climate emergency, a decision hailed by the Swedish teenage environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg as "great news".

An amendment to a parliamentary report declaring a climate emergency and calling on the parliament "to examine how [the Irish government] can improve its response to the issue of biodiversity loss" was accepted without a vote late on Thursday.