Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 5 November 2024

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

COP29: Discussion

10:50 am

Ms Siobhan Curran:

That is one option we think should be progressed. There is a whole host of options, such as a levy on profits of corporations, as well as aviation levies and shipping levies. There is a whole host of potential policy options here and some can progress domestically while others are part of EU and international discussions. It is important to advocate at COP for these sources to be based on polluter pays but beyond that for the next Government to grapple with the question of where Ireland is going to source these new sources of climate finance and do a significant investigation into it. The conversation is not going beyond the fact that we need new sources. From our perspective, corporate taxes and taxes on fossil fuel profits seem like a very obvious area to start. The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, which will be transposed by Ireland by July 2026, should also have a climate element to it. There are a number of ways in which we can address this. Mr. Fitzpatrick may wish to add to that.