Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 3 June 2021

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment

Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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While I understand the sentiment of the amendment, unfortunately I will not be able to support it. I want to cite where the objective is included in the Bill and is set out clearly in section 5, in the proposed section 3(3), which is probably the most critical section of the legislation:

The Minister and the Government shall carry out their respective functions under sections 4, 5, 6, 6B, 6C and 6D [of this Act] in a manner— (a) that is consistent with the ultimate objective specified in Article 2 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change done at New York on 9 May 1992, and:
(i) any mitigation or adaptation commitments entered into by the European Union in response or otherwise in relation to that objective;

(ii) the steps specified in Articles 2 and 4(1) of the Agreement done at Paris on 12 December 2015 to achieve that objective ...

That is the overarching and most critical international legal course that we are set on and by committing Ministers and Government to carry out all their functions with respect to that, achieves the objective that is contained in this amendment. That is probably one of the most critical sections in the legislation.