Dáil debates

Thursday, 6 December 2018

Climate Change: Statements

 

2:30 pm

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies for participating in this debate. We had a good exchange, as some of the Deputies acknowledged, for two and a half hours yesterday in the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Climate Action. That committee, as the House will be aware, has been appointed to report back by the end of January on how we should respond to the various reports on climate change, including the report of the Citizens' Assembly. It will also report on the reality that every Deputy has recognised that we are 95% off the target that was set. The truth is that when the economy started to recover, the structural changes that we needed in our economy had not been made. That is reflected in the consistent numbers, particularly for agriculture, industry and transport. Even in areas such as the public service, for which we are directly responsible, the figures presented in yesterday's report were also bad.

I welcome that the joint committee is doing this work. I view the committee as a major ally in persuading the wider public of the importance of what we are trying to do here. I hope we can achieve an all-party consensus on some of the issues to which everyone knows we must face up. The Green Party and the Taoiseach have signalled the importance of having in place a carbon price trajectory if people are to make the right decisions about the sort of infrastructure to which they commit in their own lives. They will be locked into a high-carbon intensity if we do not make the right decisions. For instance, every vehicle on the road today will be replaced by 2030. The decisions that are made on what replaces them will be very important in that sector. The vast majority of homes have energy ratings of D and worse. Together we must find a way to make the required transition in the residential sector, either through community initiatives or smart-funding packages because the State cannot fund the €50 billion that will be needed. We have serious challenges across all sectors.

Deputy Wallace, whom I respect greatly in much of what he says, tried to project that the policies that have been adopted are getting us nowhere. That is an unfair assessment. Yesterday's numbers for 2017 reflected a bad outcome but the same projections by the same people show that the impact of policies will result in a significant increase in renewable energy. As the Deputy correctly stated, renewables are at the heart of the matter. Our electricity system will increase use of renewables from 30% to 55%. Our emissions will fall cumulatively by 22 million tonnes, closing approximately half of the gap that we must meet as a result of the NDP. We are making progress but it is simply not enough. There is no point - I am not talking about Deputy Wallace - in coming in and lecturing us as if nothing is happening, while not putting forward initiatives that can help us move it on. We must have an honest debate.

Some developments are very good but we need to accelerate them. We cannot fund some other changes. Many Deputies appear to believe that the State can fund all the change required, whether in agriculture, residential buildings or small business. The State cannot fund it all. This is about behavioural change and we all have to change. Every one of us, from the citizen and the enterprise to the public service, has to take this seriously. It will be important that we do so.

Deputy Stanley, who is no longer present, correctly emphasised the economic opportunities and new apprenticeships that can be developed. He also noted the changing face of energy and its implications for enterprise and the importance of microgeneration. These are important elements but there is another side to this issue. Deputy Stanley was remarkably silent on the challenge that both the Taoiseach and the leader of the Green Party put up to the House, namely, that we agree on a carbon price trajectory. If we are serious about it, that will be a significant element. There is no point in sticking our heads in the sand about the introduction of a carbon price. The ESRI, which many respect and quote, has stated carbon pricing could result in a 10% reduction in emissions from transport. It has shown what the impact would be right across various sectors. It has also shown that its impact would be greater on rich families than on poor families. Analysis has been done that show carbon pricing is not an unfair way of tackling climate change.

A carbon price also creates proceeds. Many Deputies correctly stated that the use of those proceeds must be seen to be fair, must be spread across the entire community and must address what many refer to as a just transition. We must ensure that regions or sectors that are particularly disrupted receive some of these resources to help them make the move to the new sectors.

Deputy Fitzmaurice, who is no longer here, made an interesting point that aeroplanes and ships are not counted. That is undoubtedly partly because 80% of the output of agriculture, the sector the Deputy was defending, is exported. The exclusion of planes and ships from the EU counting is related to it being a trading nation.

Deputy Wallace said transition fuels are fraudulent. Others say we should keep everything in the ground. The truth is that even in the most optimistic scenarios there will be use of fossil fuels. Our choice really is whether we are dependent on Russian or Arab sources for them or whether we allow some to come from domestic sources. While climate change is really important, energy security is also important. We have to take a balanced approach.

I agree with many speakers who have said that we need to do a great deal more. Even the national development plan will only get us half way there. We need to deliver it and underpin it with many micro policies that make the difference. That is the work I have to do.

I thank the Deputies for wishing me well. Even those critical of what the Government is doing have generally wished me a fair wind in seeking to evolve policy in this area. I look forward to working with Deputies across the House. There is no doubt that this cannot be delivered by Government. There is no solution in Adelaide Road no more than in Merrion Street that will solve this. This has to be solved by engagement right across our community. That is one thing we will have to work on in particular. This is about far more than economics and economic tools. I am familiar with economic tools. They are part of the familiar toolbox of public policy but they will not be enough. Those who spoke about engaging with communities and getting bottom-up initiatives are absolutely right. This will not happen by top-down change; it has to be a partnership. It will be difficult to forge because none of this is easy. If it were easy, it would have been done long ago – that is the reality. This is difficult stuff. We have to persuade people to do things differently. Yet, the prize is extraordinary.

I will go back to this point. This was very much underlined in Katowice during the week. I hope to be back there next week to see a rulebook concluded in the final negotiations. One point made there was stark. I have said it previously and I repeat it now. The window is closing quickly for us to do anything about this. We have an opportunity now. If we let this slip while we are in a position to address it, we will have seriously failed the next generation and failed in our responsibilities to people who are far poorer than we are.

The second point is more encouraging. Most of the technologies we need are either developed or in development. We are not asking an impossible thing. The transition will be difficult but at the end of the transition we will have a better more connected community, a healthier way of living and a better management of the scarce resources of the earth that we are responsible for husbanding. There is an incredible prize as well as major challenge at stake. I hope that by working together with all Members, especially those of the all-party Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action and Environment, we can come forward with a package that will not only draw substantial support but also impact on the major changes we have to make.

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