Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 13 November 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Supporting a Just Transition: Discussion

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

To follow up with on Senator Hackett was saying, and anyone could answer this, I do not know if anyone saw the presentation here two weeks ago in advance of this meeting on the issue of peatlands re-wetting. Did anyone see the presentation made about that? An academic from UCD, Dr. Florence Renou-Wilson made, to my mind, a brilliant, really significant submission showing that peatland emissions account for 11 million tonnes, which is the equivalent of our entire energy emissions. I do not know if anyone saw the RTÉ programme, "Hot Air", last night. I thought it was really good. When they were doing this calculation figure, 60 million tonnes, horticulture peat extraction and industrial peat extraction accounts for 5 million tonnes, and I just put it to the committee that it seems to me that we should be really honest with communities here that the likelihood of horticultural peat extraction continuing is very slim, and Dr. Renou-Wilson from UCD when asked for advice said it was clear we will be stopping all peat extraction. Has anyone countenanced that within the work that is going on?

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