Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 11 February 2015

Committee on Transport and Communications: Select Sub-Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources

Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Revised)

11:30 am

Photo of Alex WhiteAlex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is right. We have targets in terms of renewable energy to achieve by 2020 and we have made commitments as a country. We must decarbonise our economy. We have come through a traumatic economic crisis which has had an impact on what we have been able to do, but we are back on our feet. I believe the country should contribute to the broader global agenda on combating climate change. I attended the conference in Lima in November and a speaker there made a stark point, that every economy in the world will have to adjust, whether rich, poor or in between. Every economy must adjust its economic model to decarbonise its economy. It is no exaggeration to say that otherwise, within a generation, we will face a catastrophe. We must do this, but we must do it in a planned and fair way. The targets we in this country are asked to shoulder should be fair vis-à-visother countries. The Taoiseach and others have been in discussion with our European partners to ensure they are fair, but we must move forward on them.

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