Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after “That” and substitute the following: “(a) Dáil Éireann resolves that the National Standards Authority of Ireland (Carbon Footprint Labelling) Bill 2021 be deemed to be read a second time this day twelve months, to allow for further consideration and analysis, including a Regulatory Impact Assessment, of how the Bill will achieve its objectives; and particularly in light of developments at European Union (EU) level on the proposal for a Sustainable Products Initiative where the EU single market for products requires that labelling on products is developed and implemented on an EU-wide basis with EU-wide adoption. The Sustainable Products Initiative sets out a comprehensive and ambitious proposal in this regard including minimum sustainability standards on a significant array of products, a digital product passport, requirements for circularity, repairability and durability while also proposing the expansion of the Ecodesign directive to apply significant energy and sustainability standards on the most environmentally impactful product types; and for developments on these EU initiatives to be such considered in further scrutiny of the Bill; and

(b) notes that the Private Members’ Bill, as initiated, gives rise to several matters, some of which would present concerns and therefore require further consideration after passing Second Stage. These include its interaction with the EU energy label which follows a standard format which is easily recognisable to consumers; the viability of the Bill in achieving the policy objective of carbon footprint labelling at national level, its 2067 interaction with the existing NSAI Ecolabel standard, potential barriers to trade that could be created by Ireland applying national standards that could be considered inconsistent with freedom of movement of goods within the single market; its compatibility from a trade perspective with the World Trade Organization particularly regarding their principles of national treatment and non-discrimination; and the costs and benefits for companies including those additional costs in operating under both an EU and separate national carbon specifications.”

I am moving this amendment on behalf of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. I thank Deputies Bacik, Kelly and Nash. I welcome this Bill. This is a timed amendment to this Private Member's Bill so that the Bill would be read a Second Time a year from now, when it is expected the European Commission will have made significant progress in detailing the labelling and sustainability requirements to be introduced under the Sustainable Products Initiative, SPI. The amendment also highlights key issues that will need to be considered at a further reading, including the requirement to recognise we operate within the Single Market and separate regulations for products in Ireland are potentially a barrier to that Single Market. An EU-Ievel approach under the Sustainable Products Initiative is therefore the ideal mechanism to progress this shared objective. We also need to recognise we operate within the existing Ecodesign and energy labelling regulations for some products and that these regulations are improving the environmental performance of products. We need to assess the viability of the Bill in achieving the policy objective of carbon footprint labelling at national level and the costs and benefits for companies, including those additional costs that would arise from operating under both an EU and separate national carbon specifications. We need to asses the interaction of the Bill with the existing NSAI Ecolabel standard. We need to asses the compatibility of the Bill from a trade perspective with the World Trade Organisation particularly regarding its principles of national treatment and non-discrimination.

I thank the Deputy and the Labour Party for raising this important issue.

As we transition our economy and society to a low-carbon one, we need to empower consumers to make good and informed choices. Consumer preference for climate-friendly products will further encourage innovation and creativity from product manufacturers and suppliers to provide products through decarbonised supply chains or new products that replace those with negative environmental impacts with respect to their production, use, redundancy or as waste.

The Government shares the intention of the Private Member's Bill. We need product sustainability standards and labelling to drive down the carbon footprint of the goods we consume and also to provide for evolving consumer preferences and the choice to select a low-carbon alternative when possible. These standards need to be the complete opposite of the greenwashing we often see and hear, where a product claims to be good for the environment but does not provide the rigorous analysis necessary to substantiate that claim. We need robust and verifiable product sustainability standards and in my view these need to be appropriate to the product category. For example, the type of information consumers need for a construction product like cement and the type of information required for a mobile phone will be very different. Indeed, the assessment to establish the carbon footprint of those products would be very different. That is why a European-level approach to this under the EU Green Deal, a component of which is the Sustainable Products Initiative which takes a product by product approach, is the most appropriate mechanism to deliver on this important objective.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Sustainable Products Initiative and embodied carbon in buildings and construction. The Commission's 2020 Circular Economy Action Plan included a commitment to a new sustainable product policy legislative initiative, commonly referred to as the Sustainable Product Initiative. Under the SPI, the Ecodesign directive will be revised with additional measures to make products placed on the EU market more sustainable. The directive will be widened beyond energy-related products to apply to a much wider range of products. The Ecodesign directive will also be amended to support the circular economy further by establishing new EU rules for product durability, repairability, re-usability and high quality recycling. A ban on the destruction of unsold durable goods will also be introduced. The sustainable products initiative will also address the presence of harmful chemicals in products such as electronics and ICT equipment, textiles, furniture, steel, cement, chemicals and textiles. Consumers, the environment and the climate will significantly benefit from these new rules. Earlier this year, the Commission carried out a public consultation on the SPI to gather information and views from stakeholders. Government strongly supports the initiative which has the potential to have significant environmental and climate benefits. I look forward to the Commission's legislative proposal on the SPI in early 2022.

Nationally, my Department is preparing a whole-of-Government high level circular economy strategy for publication before the end of this year. The strategy will set out high level objectives for the transition to a circular economy. Following publication, my Department will establish an interdepartmental working group which will advance a number of circular economy topics including sustainable design.

The built environment has a significant impact on many sectors of the economy, on local jobs and quality of life. It requires vast amounts of resources and accounts for about 50% of all extracted material. The construction sector is responsible for over 35% of the EU's total waste generation.

Greenhouse gas emissions from material extraction, manufacturing of construction products, as well as construction and renovation of buildings are estimated at between 5% and 12% of total national greenhouse gas emissions. Greater material efficiency could save 80% of those emissions. To increase material efficiency and reduce climate impact, the Commission is launching a comprehensive new strategy for a sustainable built environment based on learnt lessons. This strategy will ensure coherence across relevant policy areas such as climate, energy and resource efficiency, management of construction and demolition waste, accessibility, digitalisation and skills. It will promote circularity principles throughout the life cycle of buildings by addressing construction products' sustainability in line with the construction product regulation's revision, including potential recycled content requirements for certain construction products, promoting the durability and adaptability of built assets in line with the circular economy principles for building design. We are committed to working with industry stakeholders to increase the use of low-carbon materials and technologies in the construction and renovation of buildings in Ireland.

This will be informed by evolving EU standards and by best practice in other jurisdictions.

Recent experience with defective materials in new home construction underlines the need to take a robust performance-based approach to the adoption of low-carbon materials. Alternative materials must meet the requirements of all parts of the building regulations, including regulations related to durability, fire safety, structure and resistance to moisture. We will base our approach on environmental certification, and a framework for calculating the embodied carbon of a building, with a view to the implementation of Basis Works Requirement 7, Sustainable Use of Natural Resources, BWR7, and the environmental certification of construction products.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, has commissioned a life-cycle analysis study to compare the contribution of different construction materials to the embodied carbon in buildings. Our approach will include distinct steps for demonstration, certification, standardisation and commercialisation of construction practices. This will include the research and development of alternatives to traditional building materials and the increased use of low-carbon materials in construction. It will also allow for the decarbonisation and recertification of existing construction products when lower carbon manufacturing processes are implemented.

The Office of Public Works, OPW, is currently developing a roadmap to promote the use of low-carbon building alternatives in construction and we will identify opportunities to locate and build an exemplar public building using best available sustainable materials and, in particular, buildings using wood. We can see examples of predominantly timber and clay buildings in many of our local Lidl supermarket stores where they have embraced low-carbon construction and operation of buildings, and act as a leader in this regard.

Furthermore, the green deal's renovation wave initiative can lead to significant improvements in energy efficiency in the EU. The Commission will implement the initiative in line with circular economy principles, notably optimised life-cycle performance and longer life expectancy of built assets. As part of revising the recovery targets for construction and demolition waste, they will pay special attention to insulation materials, which generate a growing waste stream.

Ireland will be obliged to follow this harmonised procedure via harmonised technical specifications for construction products when a consensus of approach emerges. In that regard, it would be counter to harmonisation to develop national rules for matters covered by the Internal Market regulation.

Finally, as a note of caution, all businesses much adopt a Paris-aligned path-to-zero approach to their carbon emissions. Any business that does not, through delay or denial, risks its sustainable economic future and that of its employees. Wholesale carbon prices rose 10% across the European Union last week on the completion of COP26 and this will directly impact the cost of high-carbon materials. Everyone in every business needs to treat the climate emergency as an emergency. I thank the House for allowing me to speak on this important debate this morning.

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