FACTS         

- The United Nations identified Ireland as the second most unequal industrialised country in 2002. The US was the most unequal.

- The 2002 UN Poverty Index, has consistently rated Ireland as having the highest percentage of poor people in Western Europe, about 15.3% of the country's 3.9 million residents.

- The Happy Planet Index (an index of human well being and environmental impact) rates Colombia as the second happiest country worldwide. Ireland ranks 113th out of 176 countries.4

- Climate change is the greatest challenge facing us globally. It is projected that by 2010, Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions will exceed its Kyoto Protocol limits by 39.8%.2

- Less than 1% of Ireland is protected in Nature Reserves.

- The world is now warming at the fastest rate for over 100,000 years.3