Dáil debates

Tuesday, 23 November 2021

Climate Action Plan 2021: Statements

 

6:35 pm

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

I thank Deputies for contributing to the debate this evening. At COP26 in Glasgow, it was interesting to note that there was not a single country represented that did not recognise the absolute urgency and need for us to meet the targets set in the Paris Agreement to try to keep the increase in global temperatures below 1.5 degrees. As Mary Robinson said during the course of the proceedings, we cannot negotiate with science. That target or limit was set for a very good reason because going above it risks us reaching a tipping point resulting in runaway climate change that is dangerous beyond compare.

Similarly, it is important to reflect that in terms of the basic science, this is not an issue that divides this House. Nobody here spoke in opposition to the certainty that climate change is happening, that it is caused by our emissions, particularly from fossil fuels, land use and other short-lived greenhouse gases and that we have to act fast. If we accept the science, then we must act fast and, as clearly set out, cut our emissions by half this decade and achieve net zero emissions globally by 2050. That is a challenge beyond compare and it has never happened before. No country has halved its emissions in a decade, which is what we are setting out to do. However, that is what we have to do to protect the future of the next generation.

An interesting perspective on this for a country like Ireland is to consider the alternative if we do not meet the targets. Every other country is clearly going in this direction. Our next-door neighbour, the UK, has set out similar net zero plans and if one looks to the Continent, the major economies of Germany and France are committed to going in this direction. Germany is likely to accelerate now with the expected formation of a new government involving the Green Party, which will push for further and greater ambition. The US economy is doing the same. Despite the setback in Glasgow with the Indian and Chinese governments creating some uncertainty around the phasing out of coal, it is clear that every single modern economy is going in this direction. It is inevitable that economies are going to decarbonise and those countries that are first in this process will benefit most.

It is important to remember that we need to do this for basic climate justice, that is, justice for the next generation and for the poorest people in the world who are suffering most from the consequences of climate change but we also need to do it for economic reasons. If we are not beyond compare in our ambition and do not make some of the hard decisions we need to make, we will fall behind and will not develop the opportunity that exists to be good at this, to learn how to do it and to share that knowledge and experience elsewhere. We have the structures in place to do it. We have political agreement on the imperative and we have a national development plan that sets out a public capital investment programme worth €165 million. An additional €100 million in private capital must also be deployed.

We also have in the plan from Eirgrid, Shaping our Electricity Future, a clear understanding of how we can develop economic opportunity across the island by tapping into renewable and microgeneration power resources. As Deputy Harkin rightly pointed out, this has to be community centred and not just based around big business. We know we can do that. We also have a climate action plan that sets out the framework we will follow in order to deliver, as well as an Act that provides that if Departments are failing, they are held to account by the Climate Change Advisory Council and this House and will have to amend policies, year on year, to get us back on the path to decarbonisation.

I described it at the Oireachtas committee the other day as a straitjacket, but it is an appropriate description because we have not delivered the change nor risen to the opportunity and we need to test ourselves because it is not easy to change. The reason it is important that there is political agreement on the basic science and on the imperative is because six Governments in a row will have to follow this course. That is what we signed up to when we enacted the climate Act. The next Government as well as this one will have to do it. The more thought we put into the measures and the more consensus we can get on the basic approach, the better, because then we will not be stopping and starting. We will be giving clear signals and certainty to all people on the course we are about to take.

I will briefly make a couple of points in response to some of the issues raised by Deputies in the course of the debate. Deputy Bacik raised a valid question about the series of actions which will be published within the coming weeks to show exactly how the Government is going to hold itself to account on delivering the key measures we need to take.

I heard in contributions from Deputy O'Donoghue, Deputy Danny Healy-Rae and others that there is a rural-urban divide on this. If there is, let us stop that straight away, because that does not serve anyone. No one is pointing the finger at any one community, industry or sector and saying: "You are the problem, you are the ones that have to be held to account." We are all involved in this. Farming will be at the centre of the solutions, but it will also be at the centre in the future in terms of paying farmers properly for the important work they do in providing food and managing and looking after our land and nature, the natural systems which are under real stress. They are heavily polluted, and biodiversity has been lost. Let us start paying farmers for the restoration of those natural systems, as well as the high quality food that they produce. That is surely something that will not divide. Why would that divide us, as we set out mechanisms to pay farmers, foresters and fishers properly, to protect and make sure that we live with our natural systems and the natural beauty that we love on this island?

I always say transport will be more difficult because, in truth, through our planning in the past 50 years, we have embedded dependency on the car, which will be hard to unwind. It is not that we are saying "No" to people driving. Cars will be electric. We will need people to have those choices and freedom to be able to move around, but the current system does not work, not just in climate terms but also due to gridlock geometry. If we go back to reliance on those systems and replace the combustion engine with electric vehicles, we will still have those problems. This is an opportunity to switch fuels, shift to other modes of transport and to reduce the overall volume of traffic so we can all get around in a much more efficient and better way for local communities.

There are significant opportunities in energy because we have a massive resource in offshore wind in particular that we can and will tap into. First and foremost, on this cold day, we should start with heating. We should start thinking about how this is an opportunity to improve every single home so that we do not have to spend so much on keeping ourselves warm and healthy in our homes. This is achievable. I was at a very interesting meeting earlier today with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland where we mapped out some of the future for heating. It will involve district heating, which will bring communities together. It is a much more efficient and cheaper way of heating homes. It will involve a switch to heat pumps from oil-fired central heating, as oil burners need to be replaced. That is what we are going to have to do. The Government will support it with grants and one-stop-shops, as will the future Government, because it makes such sense. There will be a clear pathway to this better way of heating our homes.

My last point is about industry. I am only just skating over the surface. Today, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities pointed out that all industries must play their part. That includes data centres. They must live within this plan. Every sector must. No sector is held beyond the others. We are not naming and shaming. Everyone in business and in industry knows that this is the way the world is going and if they want to be in business it is the way they must go too.

That is what we should do as a country. We will be good at this. We will make this transition. It will take time to ramp up the ports to deliver the offshore turbines we need. It will also take time to make the switch from oil-fired burners to heat pump technology, but we can and will do it. It will be organised from these two Houses. Local authorities will have a central role. We will do it together.

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