Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Paris agreement on climate change last year was significant in that the world collectively recognised not only the fact that climate change exists but that we all have a part to play in combating it. The conversation has moved on from whether the phenomenon is real or imagined. We are not just talking about which studies are valid and we no longer entertain sceptics.

Language around this global problem has shifted to include terminology like "climate justice", which acknowledges that climate change affects everyone but not equally. Climate justice is a term indicating that there are environmental, social, economic, and political implications of climate change all around the world that impact most on those who depend on their surrounding environment to meet their basic needs like food and shelter or on those who are already living in poverty. Climate justice acknowledges that there are people who are disproportionately affected by climate change and who therefore should not disproportionately carry the burden in solutions to climate change. It also acknowledges that there are people who do not have access to basic resources which may protect them from the consequences of climate change such as shelter, money, technological advances or a political environment which vindicates their human rights.

Both at home and abroad, climate change must be met with an equitable effort-sharing approach in order that all countries and domestic stakeholders act according to their responsibility and capacity in line with international climate and sustainable development obligations. I echo Trócaire's key recommendation to the Government, which I find especially relevant to the situation facing rural communities due to the inequity in burden sharing caused mainly by Ireland’s renewable energy policy. Trócaire states that we must prioritise a just transition domestically and globally and establish adequate social and environmental safeguards to ensure policies do not result in unintended impacts on the rights and resilience of vulnerable communities.

Wind farms have dominated the renewable energy conversation in Ireland and have disproportionately impacted on rural communities like those in Donegal due to the delicate balance of rural living and the surrounding environment. The dominance of wind farm production has led the current Government to ignore newer technologies and more sustainable approaches to renewable energy. Last year, I published a policy document on biomass emphasising the potential this renewable energy form could have for rural Ireland both economically and environmentally. Biomass could effectively target residential and small-scale industry carbon emission production, create jobs, stimulate the local economy and reduce the environmental impact that wind farms have on rural communities. The Government is introducing a heat incentive for industry and rightly so, but we must empower residents to help combat carbon emissions as part of equitable burden sharing. This means also introducing a domestic heat incentive to facilitate this. This is what equitable burden sharing means for rural communities, and for that reason I have called for a moratorium on wind farm construction until all other forms of renewable energy are explored and have sufficient investment.

The Government joined the international community in signing the Paris agreement and is now obliged to introduce policies and implement them over the next number of years to bring about climate action in this country. However, this year, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, highlighted the fact that Ireland is well off course in respect of even meeting existing EU climate targets for 2020 let alone keeping global temperatures to below 2° Celsius. We are so far behind that ambition and action will have to increase exponentially over the next few decades just to keep up with older obligations never mind new ones.

In December 2015, the Government launched its White Paper on Ireland's transition to a low-carbon energy future. Its vision is for Ireland to be a country where greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector will be reduced by between 80% to 95% by 2050 compared with 1990 levels, falling to zero or below by 2100. Energy accounts for around 66% of carbon emissions in Ireland and so industry and agriculture must face their fair share of burden sharing in our transition to a sustainable, low-carbon economy. As part of industry's burden sharing and the Government's acknowledgement of fairness required in any climate change approach, I urge the new Government to take on board Trócaire's call for this Government to join the global fossil fuel divestment movement. By joining the movement, the Government can bring State investments in line with international climate action obligations, starting with divesting the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund of current investments in the fossil fuel industry and giving the fund a 100% percent renewable energy investment mandate.

NUI Maynooth has already become the first Irish university to put in place a fossil-free investment policy, which the Government could take inspiration from. Ireland needs to ensure it does its fair share of the global effort to combat climate change by protecting those who are vulnerable to its consequences. We must reflect climate justice in the international development priorities set out by the new Government and place emphasis on the eradication of global poverty and hunger, which are exacerbated by extreme weather and climate change. Ireland's carbon emissions are already equal to that of 400 million of the world's poor people. Where is the sense in saying that we are only a small country and asking how we can possibly have an impact if we reduce our carbon emissions? We are having a greater impact than a dozen or more poor countries combined. Taking action on climate change is one of Trócaire's five key policy areas that the new Dáil must focus on. I urge the same, and acknowledge that both at home and abroad climate change affects everyone, but not equally. Equitable burden sharing must be echoed in Ireland's climate change policies.

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