Government sleepwalking public into billions of climate fines
Government sleepwalking public into billions of climate fines - The Labour Party
- Critical Infrastructure Bill decision will drive worse climate outcomes
- European-wide heatwave at a time when Ireland on course to significantly exceed emissions targets
Labour’s climate spokesperson Ciarán Ahern has expressed his grave concern at the failure of Minister Darragh O’Brien to get real about climate.
Ahern said the lack of joined up thinking when it comes to emissions reductions beggars belief.
Deputy Ahern said:
“The EPA report today is unequivocal in its message that this conservative coalition is simply not serious when it comes to pursuing climate positive policies.
“It is failing its legal responsibility through both the Climate Act and the EU Effort Sharing Regulation which will see enormous monies wasted in fines rather than in addressing the foundational climate mitigation measures so desperately needed in Ireland. The Minister can’t just wish these fines away.
“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are actively pursuing policies that are driving up our emissions from failing to critically address energy-intensive data centres which are pushing up household bills, to the removal of the passenger cap at Dublin Airport, to the recent passage of the Critical Infrastructure Bill which means climate or biodiversity considerations no longer need to be heeded.
“This short-termism from Government is exactly what Fianna Fáil have done through their history – putting short term electoral considerations ahead of long term strategic planning.
“In April we saw Government hand out a €500mn package effectively directed towards subsidising fossil fuels – a response that represented an admission of this Government’s failure to sufficiently wean Ireland off fossil fuels.
“At the same time, the Government is relying on an international fuel crisis to increase EV uptake, rather than doing anything itself to incentive change, such as prioritising public transport.
“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, propped up by Independents, are pursuing a strategy that sees Ireland reliant on fossil fuel dependence, evident through the recently overturned fracked gas ban and its plans to import LNG. At the same time, we still have no offshore renewable energy infrastructure.
“Take for example the news that emissions from forestry alone is set to rise by 72%. It’s clear that former Minister Healy Rae’s priorities were never within his own Department. There is no joined up thinking – no one appears to be holding the pen when it comes to climate in that Department which was granted the lowest emissions reduction targets of any department and yet remains the furthest away from achieving its goals.
“The Minister has also been sitting on a Land Use report for months and months – clearly because he’s afraid of the recommendations and because there is no desire in Government to reduce emissions or plan strategically for this sector.
“If we miss the EU targets, we will owe Europe between €8bn-€26bn – monies that could be invested in our renewable capacity to drive down people’s energy bills and protect the economy from shocks like the recent war in the Middle East.
“Government have made commitments to address our emissions and now they are actively breaking these commitments and sabotaging progress. They need to change course without delay – to protect our people, our planet, drive down costs and move Ireland’s economy onto sustainable footing.”