Climate crisis leaves no room for wiggle room – EU deal is not good enough
Climate crisis leaves no room for wiggle room – EU deal is not good enough - The Labour Party
Labour’s spokesperson for Climate, Environment & Energy, Ciarán Ahern TD, has criticised the EU’s 2040 climate targets agreement reached this morning. The deal calls for emission cuts of 90% by 2040, but allows 5% to be made through the purchase of carbon credits as well as the outsourcing of a further 5% of national targets. It also provides for a further weakening of targets, with reassessments every two years. Deputy Ahern has said that the EU has capitulated to corporate interests and climate sceptics, and is gambling with the future of our planet.
Deputy Ahern said:
“At a time when we’re beginning to see the effects of climate change manifest across the world, it’s incredible that there are many within the EU who haven’t yet come to the realisation that we can’t buy our way out of this problem. The only way to overcome climate disaster is by taking the radical and necessary steps to decarbonise our economies and societies.
“There are so many loopholes in this agreement that you can see through it. It’s being framed as a deal that advances climate action while protecting economies. Climate action is not a threat to our economies – climate destruction is. How will our economies cope with urban centres that are regularly flooded; with a workforce that’s constantly sick because of air pollution; with supply chain disruptions; or with the failure of agricultural systems?
“We should be phasing out carbon credits, not baking them into our long-term plans. We’ve seen successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments skirt their responsibility by spending public money to buy credits because of their failure to take the necessary action in achieving our climate targets.
“We’re now at a point in Ireland where we could be facing up to €26 billion in fines. That’s money that will have to be redirected from our health budget, our social welfare budget and our housing budget.
“Let’s call this deal what it is: a capitulation to corporate interests and the climate sceptic governments of the likes of Hungary and Slovakia. It puts the protection of profit ahead of the protection of our planet.”