Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This Bill offers some tentative first steps in the right direction but it is not quite there yet. Engagement with all sectors from local government to each Department is something climate activists have been crying out for for years. Specific goals offer an attempt at long-term strategising but achievement on that must be sensible, consistent and within a framework that is unambiguous. The Bill falls short in a number of areas. The long-promised commitment to end the issuing of licences for offshore exploration and the extraction of gas and petroleum remains conspicuously absent. The Government has also committed to banning the importation of LNG and fracked gas and I urge the Government parties to support amendments and follow through on its promises.

The proposals give too much discretion to Ministers. If there is no discernible penalty for failing to meet a target, the majority will fail to meet it and when a Minister must balance political expediency with long-term planning, one does not have to guess too far which side a decision will be made on. The ability, however limited, to borrow carbon credits from future budgets allows for the opportunity to pass the buck to a future Minister. There must be some level of responsibility if this Bill is to be worth the paper it is written on. After all, we are elected to this House to write legislation, not fancy words or poetry.

Most crucially for my constituency of Longford-Westmeath, this Bill barely mentions, let alone defines, a just transition. The use of very weak language such as “best endeavour” and “as far as practicable” act as get-out clauses and make just transition measures almost meaningless. Let us compare that to the Scottish act, which definitively defines and lays down words that are not open to interpretation, including "environmentally and socially sustainable jobs to maintain social consensus through engagement with workers, trade unions and communities, the creation of decent, fair and high-value work". None of those words are present in our Bill and that is a missed opportunity. Climate action can improve people’s lives when it is done right but that means that there has to be trueness to just transition at the very heart of us because without that we will leave communities behind and we will lose buy-in from the rural communities most affected by this transition process. A detailed just transition policy could develop green energy with local community control and provide jobs and wealth for our declining communities in both rural and urban areas. It could allow for urban planning to revitalise and improve quality of life while meeting environmental goals. It could do many things but without concrete commitments it is doomed to fail. There was zero reference to just transition in the first draft of this Bill, which is very telling about the Government’s commitments to areas such as mine, which are most impacted by job losses. This is important for several reasons, namely, that climate change and inequality are inextricably joined at the hip.

It is a gross overaccumulation of wealth that has allowed corporate interests to concentrate resources and produce. Yet we see time and again those least able to afford it being burdened by consumption taxes and higher heating, electricity and transport costs. Ultimately, these are ineffective at achieving environmental goals. We have one opportunity to make a big difference for the future of climate change in this country but that needs to be binding and fair because we are here today not only for ourselves but for future generations.

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