Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief because I realise we are here late at night. We accepted and tabled seven amendments in the Seanad, some of which were from the Opposition but most were from the Government and covered a variety of issues, such as just transition, which was the main subject of the Report Stage debate in the Dáil; and climate justice with regard to accepting what the NGOs said, in that it was better to take out our definition and stick with the wording and provide clarity on the issue of land use, sinks and removals of carbons, as well as dealing with emissions.

I am glad we have done that because - I will be honest - we need a much more detailed understanding of what exactly is at stake here. This is what these amendments do. They do not change the position. I made the exact same case in any contribution I made throughout this whole Bill about how we manage sinks and the storage of carbon. I am glad that, to a certain extent, this issue has now been highlighted.

There is one further amendment we are putting forward today, which refers to the changes we have made. We are making sure they are, as are the other key sections of the Bill, consistent with the Paris Agreement, as set out in section 3(3). Articles 2 and 4 of the Paris Agreement are directly referred to. In Article 2, on the issue of climate justice, it reminds us the agreement "will be implemented to reflect equity and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities", at the core of the climate justice issue. In Article 4, on this key issue and right through the Paris Agreement, there is a recognition it is not just emissions, sinks and removals that have to be addressed. It states that we would have to undertake rapid reductions thereafter in accordance with best available science, so as to achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century, on the basis of equity, and in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty. Sinks and addressing them, equity and climate justice go absolutely together.

I will not read out the full details of Article 5, but it states that we have an obligation to set in place the mechanisms, including payment mechanisms, for how we will deliver that in afforestation and stopping deforestation, which we have in this country, as well as managing wetlands and grasslands, to be able to deliver this.

Some of the commentary would make one think that this is sop to agriculture. The reality is that land use in Ireland is currently a source, not a sink, and is becoming more of a source. We have to completely reverse. There is a great deal of science to do. As I said in the debate on Report Stage, many of the measurements of how we address and promote sinks and storage of carbon will require us, first, to do more science on what is happening in our land use system. We have much information on forestry, but we need much more on wetlands, grasslands and bog management. Also, there will be further developments. Even today, we saw the Fit for 55 legislative package from the European Commission. That backs up and is in tune with what we are doing today. The commitment in that, to have a carbon neutral land use system by 2035, is going to require radical action and absolute change. The great benefit is that it is nature-based solutions which will be good for rural Ireland, biodiversity and for tackling pollution. It also has to be good for farmers and foresters in this country.

Within that, as is set out in the Paris Agreement, we look at results-based payments that increase the income of young people going into forestry and farming. It is appropriate for us to plan and start managing for that, as well as getting the science right. Central to it will be a land use plan which looks at what is the right tree in the right place, which restores biodiversity as well as storing carbon and which sees grassland management as key. Our smart farmers are going to be good at that, and we are going to pay them properly for doing it. In addition, there is bog rehabilitation and recognising that climate adaptation and resilience are just as important because the risk we have here of losing all that carbon into the atmosphere through fire is just as real as it is in Canada, the Amazon or in other regions.

There is no diminution of the role of the Climate Advisory Council. Deputy Bríd Smith says we can amend the Bill in the future. No, far better is what we have done here to clarify. Yes, it is the Government, working with the Climate Advisory Council, recognising the changes that will come in Europe and that we have to make as we move from a Kyoto-based accounting system towards a Paris-based accounting system, which is all about looking forward and having a climate neutral system where we maintain global temperatures in a safe space by getting the balance right between sinks and emissions. That is what the Paris Agreement says and that is what our further amendment today commits us to - being consistent with the Paris Agreement. This legislation does it and I am proud of it, as well as of the role of our party and other parties in government and of Independents and other parties that have supported us. It is a matter of delivering now on the ground, in our ground and paying our people as we do it properly.

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