Dáil debates
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Climate Change: Statements (Resumed)
Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
I welcome the fact that we are having this debate and the work done on it by the Joint Committee on Climate Change and Energy Security in terms of its plans for climate change legislation. A climate change Bill was originally proposed by the Labour Party and the committee has taken the legislation on board. The idea is that mitigating and adapting to climate change should be central to Government policy. The legislation, as proposed, is not prescriptive in any way and neither is it binding in the manner in which the Government, or indeed all of us, might tackle climate change. It is not even binding regarding the reduction of emissions, although it has targets, and it is expected that the Taoiseach would report on these in the event that they are not reached.
Heretofore, climate change has been something of a niche subject. It is very important, however, that it becomes core Government policy and is driven by the Taoiseach. It is something that affects everything we do and, as such, it has implications for policy in every Department. I understand that is the idea behind the legislation as proposed. Most of the prominent world leaders, such as President Obama of the United States, now tend to talk a great deal about climate change and our leaders in Ireland tend to do the same. It is somewhat akin to talking about sustainable development for the future. We should talk about development which will help us mitigate the effects of climate change and adopt initiatives that will help us to adapt to their impacts. We have to rebuild the economy from here on in. In doing that, we must ensure that we do not replicate the cycle we have had until recently where economic growth meant increased carbon emissions. That was going to cost us in the long-run and it is something we need to think about now. The type of growth we have in the future needs to be cleaner and involve fewer carbon emissions, less pollution and so on.
The other side of this is to ensure that everything is influenced by the climate change legislation when it is enacted. In the past we talked a good deal about protecting the environment. However, in order to do so, the issue of climate change must be tackled as well. We have moved away from the values we had heretofore regarding protecting the environment and many of the initiatives that were in place were good. We tend to recycle more, something the Irish are good at, and this helps because if the habitat is protected, this helps to tackle climate change. It is not just the environment. Many of the initiatives needed to protect the environment and mitigate climate change are good in general for society. Public transport infrastructure enables a more sustainable economy and that is good for people's quality of life. It ensures affordable transport and also helps to tackle the problem of carbon emissions.
If steps are taken to promote biodiversity and our habitats, they will become more robust in terms of adapting to climate change. Protecting our habitats and encouraging biodiversity is something that needs to be done in itself. Doing so will also help our habitats to adapt to climate change norms and become more robust in terms of whatever impacts occur.
Regarding climate change adaptation, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has said there is to be a climate change strategy by the end of this year, and this is very important. There is much talk now about the floods, climate change, etc. I do not necessarily agree there is a link, but, in any event, we will have to deal with the impacts of climate change in the future. There is a good deal of research which indicates that our climate is already changing. There has been significant studies on how climate change will impact on Ireland. Much of it has been carried out by NUI Maynooth and people such as Professor John Sweeney. Some of the impacts of climate change in Ireland will not be that bad. Some areas will do better than others, but many areas of activity will be under threat. Some agricultural activity will be affected and some coastal areas. We need a national plan for adapting to climate change, and this needs to be brought right down to local level. The sooner that is done, the better. It is very important that we do not just have a national climate change strategy and that each local authority, for example, has its own strategy. Some of them do already, although most do not.
We need to bring the impacts of adapting to climate change down to local community level, so that people are involved in doing something in their areas to deal with flooding, coastal erosion or whatever issues may arise from coastal change. Local communities should be given leadership through the national climate change adaptation strategy. In turn, they must prepare their own plans. This needs to be done without delay. Such initiatives have been carried out in places such as Washington State, I believe, and they tend to raise awareness among people about the issue of climate change and make them conscious of the need to reduce their carbon footprints.
For some years we have been talking theoretically about reducing carbon emissions, but we have never really come up with concrete practical proposals which can be put in place at ground level. We tend to talk in exalted terms about the Copenhagen conference and carbon emission targets. There is much in this debate to which people on the ground cannot relate. For example, one could involve children in projects to make schools more sustainable. In so doing, one would educate children, their parents and teachers about the issues on climate change. One could take actions such as making the buildings more energy efficient. Alternatively, a school could have solar panels or save rainwater for subsequent use. There are many things one could do in a school environment that could make a contribution to reducing our carbon emissions and help the awareness of children and the wider community of climate change.
Similarly, one could think small in respect of public transport and achieve a lot simply by investing in more buses. I have made this point many times. While we tend to talk about projects such as the Luas, the metro and so on, I am uncertain of their future, given the current state of the economy. However, buses are the most flexible form of public transport. They are relatively cheap and one is not obliged to dig up roads to deploy additional buses. One could takes initiatives such as having cheaper fares in certain areas. Much more could be done to get people out of their cars and into buses.
These examples are a flavour of some of the steps that could be taken. In addition to thinking big in respect of climate change legislation and targets, we should also think small by thinking about the small, practical things that could be done.
While I acknowledge this issue is being considered in the drafting of legislation, it will be important for the future organisation of our society for us to deal with climate change in a way that will protect the poor and the vulnerable. We must bring about greater equality in respect of people's income to help them deal with the issue of climate change. The United Nations' reports have made the point that those who are poor are much more vulnerable to the impact of climate change. Consequently, many of the suggestions made such as having environmentally-friendly cars and so on will be of no help to those who are poor. If one deals with the fact that people are poor, one can help them to tackle better the issue of climate change. This must be an important part of the debate.
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