Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for the invitation to participate in the stakeholder debate the committee is facilitating on national climate policy and associated legislation. I greatly appreciate members' work and look forward to receiving their report in due course. Substantial progress has been made in terms of developing the national climate policy agenda since I met with the committee in December 2011. Arising from that constructive meeting, I responded to a request from the committee to set out in writing the policy development agenda, issuing the programme for the development of national climate policy and legislation in January 2012. In spite of the enormity and importance of the task, the programme is broadly on schedule. Great credit is due to several key players, particularly this committee and the secretariat to the National Economic and Social Council, NESC.

I delivered a comprehensive statement to the committee at the outset of the policy development process in December 2011. In addition, the committee recently had a full briefing by departmental officials, the Environmental Protection Agency and the NESC secretariat. Rather than going over the ground again and given there have been no major developments in the meantime, I propose to take this opportunity to set out the key issues in the national climate policy and legislation agenda from my perspective.

First, and perhaps most important of all, is Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions profile. That is the critical starting point. We have a somewhat unusual profile in the European context due to several factors, including the high share of emissions associated with ruminant livestock in the agricultural sector. This situation has not arisen because we do not have an efficiency in that sector; on the contrary, we have a carbon-efficient agriculture and food sector. It is simply due to the scale of the industry relative to our overall economy. In any debate on national climate policy and legislation, it is essential both to understand Ireland's emissions profile and respond specifically to it.

As I said in my previous statement, the challenge we face is significant and serious and must be dealt with in a manner that has regard to our specific national circumstances. I have heard suggestions that we should follow the policy or legislative approach taken in other countries, particularly the United Kingdom. When I look at the latter's emissions profile, however, I see little similarity with ours. In short, that country's challenge is very different from ours. Lessons from other countries must certainly be considered, but it would be naive and potentially very harmful to assume that what works elsewhere provides an easy or appropriate solution for Ireland. We must make progress on the basis of what will work best for this country in meeting its greenhouse gas mitigation obligations in the medium and long term and pursuing new growth opportunities in a low-carbon future. We need an informed and mature response to our specific greenhouse gas mitigation challenge.

The second issue I will address is the serious gap that exists in international and EU policy and legislation in terms of accounting for greenhouse gas emissions and removals of the use of certain lands, including agricultural land. This is a critically important issue for Ireland but one which is often overlooked. In fact, it is central to the climate policy development process as a consequence of its direct relevance to our agricultural sector. Efforts to resolve the gap at the European and international level raise matters with profound economic implications for Ireland, particularly our agriculture and food sector. Every sector must of course play its part in the national transition agenda; there can be and are no exceptions. The main issue is that policy on agricultural land use at EU level and in the international process under the UN convention is incomplete. We must bear in mind that gap and how it might ultimately be resolved in our deliberations on climate policy and legislation. Irish engagement in the ongoing efforts to resolve the gap is focused on seeking to optimise the opportunity for the highest ambition possible on the part of the agricultural sector as a whole, that is, livestock and land. I will outline presently the highly ambitious agenda which the Government, in anticipation of the planned primary legislation, has set for four sectors of the economy, including agriculture.

The third key point is greenhouse gas emission targets. Domestic targets at whatever level or timeframe, be it 30% for 2020, 40% by 2030 or 80% for 2050, are not just numbers. It is very attractive to talk about ambitious headline numbers such as 80% by 2050 but entirely shallow and indefensible if they have no substance. In other words, there is little point in putting forward such objectives if there is no clear case for an additional layer of targets or if proposed targets are not presented and considered in the context of Ireland's specific greenhouse gas emissions profile and on the basis of where and how they are expected to be achieved. As I said in my letter of January 2012 to the Chairman's predecessor, while targets, trajectories and institutional arrangements are of huge importance as part of a robust national position, they are elements of structure and process which do not directly address the core political issue of where and how greenhouse gas emission reductions are to be achieved across the economy and society.

The need to re-frame our national agenda from "how much" to "how to" is strongly borne out by the comprehensive climate policy analysis reports from the NESC secretariat. When I spoke in the House in February in response to a Bill brought forward by Deputy Catherine Murphy, I made the point that Ireland already has a challenging greenhouse gas reduction target for 2020 which is binding under EU law. I also told the House that the legislation the Government proposes to bring forward will be unequivocal in terms of compliance with existing and future obligations of the State under EU law and any other international agreement to which the State becomes a party. The unequivocal commitment on compliance relates both to existing and future obligations of the State. For Ireland, future obligations under EU and international law are not some remote possibility. They are a reality and we are fully committed to meeting them.

In publishing the recent Green Paper on a 2030 framework for climate and energy policy, the European Commission has already initiated a debate on a 2030 EU target. The Green Paper is a political priority for the EU in progressing decarbonisation across the European economy and further developing EU leadership in preparation for negotiations on a new international climate treaty which we hope will be finalised in Paris in 2015. We already have a challenging and binding 2020 reduction target under EU law. In the relatively near future we expect to have a further challenging target for 2030. We are fully committed to meeting these and all subsequent targets.

It is important to note that targets are not the only barometer of ambition or commitment. In anticipation of the planned legislation, the Government has already announced a high level of mitigation ambition for 2050. Work is under way on low-carbon roadmaps in four key sectors of the economy, namely, energy, buildings, transport and agriculture. The ambition is to achieve near zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 in the case of energy, buildings and transport, and carbon neutrality in the case of agriculture. This sectoral element of the road-mapping process will underpin work on a 2050 national low-carbon roadmap which will be completed by my Department following public consultation next year. This approach has substance in that it addresses Ireland's specific greenhouse gas emissions profile and sets out a way forward that is realistic and relevant to the negotiations on the policy gap to which I referred. The steps already taken by the Government in anticipation of the primary legislation demonstrate the depth of consideration underpinning our approach and the proposed provisions of the climate action and low carbon development Bill. The underlying policy may not be immediately evident from the text of the outline heads.

The fourth point is that Ireland is not a laggard on climate protection. In fact, it is quite the contrary. As well as meeting our greenhouse gas reduction target under the Kyoto Protocol in the 2008 to 2012 commitment period, due in part the impact of economic recession, we also put in train the intensive analytical and policy work necessary to underpin much higher ambition in the future. We certainly face a challenging target for 2020 under EU law, but one of the priorities in initiating the policy development process in which we are now engaged was to identify and adopt the additional measures necessary to achieve our 2020 compliance.

It is also designed to allow us to take a step forward in the context of our own agenda on an effective transition to a competitive low-carbon economy in 2050.

Within the EU, our record is strong. We have consistently and constructively supported EU leadership in seeking to mobilise an effective global response to climate change. A further priority in initiating the policy development process was to ensure that Ireland will maintain its acknowledged place among both the progressive member states within the EU and the progressive parties to the wider international process under the UN Convention on Climate Change. Our record in this regard is not something which happened overnight or on my watch. It is only fair to all those who have been involved in this area over many years to ensure that the facts relating to Ireland's good standing are made clear. Rather than criticising our efforts to date, our objective should be to build on those efforts.

The fifth and final key point is that there are no easy answers to the greenhouse gas emission challenge with which all developed countries will be obliged to grapple in the period to 2050. As I said in my original statement to the committee, I am not convinced that any one body possesses - or any particular approach involves - a monopoly of wisdom. A successful way forward for Ireland lies in structured dialogue on the range of views that exists across Irish society. My objective - this is a fundamental point and I would welcome support from the committee in respect of it - is to ensure that the ultimate decisions on the way forward will be taken on the basis of a fair hearing for all stakeholders, address our specific national circumstances in the context of the challenges and opportunities presented by a low-carbon future, achieve the critical balance between environmental and economic sustainability and reflect a national vision energised by the broad consensus and support of an enlightened and progressive society.

I wish to briefly reflect on a number of other points which I set out in my letter of 12 January last to the Chairman's predecessor. In that letter, I clearly outlined the central role I see this committee playing in the policy development process. That role is of the utmost importance in the context of the critical issue of developing a clear national understanding of when and how we propose to meet our binding EU and wider international commitments, as well as pursuing our national objectives in respect of a low-carbon economy. I have already stated that while targets, trajectories and institutional arrangements are extremely important in the context of a robust national position, they are elements of structure and process and they do not directly address the core political issue of where and how greenhouse gas emission reductions are to be achieved across the economy and society. Questions in this regard lie at the core of the political challenge and, as stated earlier, there are no easy answers.

The way forward will require strong political vision, leadership and determination. Input from that perspective is what I will be most anxious to see in the committee's report. I am absolutely confident that if it gets its policy and legislation right, Ireland can and will make a successful transition to a low-carbon future. The policies and measures which are most likely to be successful are those which best respond to our national circumstances, as reflected in our greenhouse gas emission profile and the structure of our economy. I firmly believe that any approach to a low-carbon future must address and seek to balance the challenge of greenhouse gas mitigation and the opportunities for new growth that will arise as the emerging global green economy matures. The response must be approached from both perspectives and the outcome must reflect a credible balance between our commitment to environmentally sustainable development and our ambitions for economic growth and social development.