Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is appropriate that we are discussing carbon budgets following the publication of the UN climate report, which was released on Monday. It was a worrying report that sought to reinforce the need for swift and meaningful action to be taken to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions across the globe if we are to survive the 1.5°C threshold, but there was a note of hope that we could all play our part in this ambition if our roadmaps were right.

To be clear, carbon budgets set out our targets and are adopted by the Oireachtas. However, it is individual Ministers who prepare sectoral emission ceilings for the sectors of the economy under their respective remits. The importance of the manner in which individual Ministers pursue these targets cannot be overstated. When deciding on measures, attention must be paid to the role that each sector and each element of that sector can play in achieving our targets. These measures are major responsibilities that will play a part in determining the direction that our climate will go. The sectors cannot get away from that and we all have our part to play, but we must never forget the notion of equality. We cannot forget that most people want to play their part to secure a world for their children and grandchildren in which the deterioration of the climate has begun to roll back, but they are often financially limited in the actions they can take to meet the demands being made of them by their sectoral Ministers.

Unfortunately, counterproductive measures are being rolled out. Those that disproportionately impact the least well-off have resulted in many people seeing the climate actions designed by this Government as being little more than the imposition of additional charges that result in a higher cost of living. This is because there are either no alternatives or, if there are, they are outside people's financial reach. We see this in the retrofitting scheme, which favours those with disposable incomes, and in the grants available for electric cars, which favour those in particularly affluent areas and who have money to spend on prestige vehicles. We see it in the carbon tax, which disproportionately affects those with little or no disposable income to spend on retrofitting and who have no alternative to using their cars daily to go to the shop, work or hospital. If the Government's approach is to present obstacles to achieving our objectives and exclude those who have the least while imposing taxes on them for little gain, it increases the likelihood that we will miss our targets.

Rural Ireland is being targeted in particular. Where is our public transport? Where is our district heating? In previous policies, this and previous Governments have often put obstacles in the way of achieving the targets we have been set and have hampered our ability to deliver on them. Where was the foresight?

European countries have rolled out district heating while we are still talking about it. Considerable opportunities lie in green hydrogen. Offshore wind energy, which can be used to make green hydrogen, has historically been left in the dark. Green hydrogen applications are increasing and it can be stored and used when the wind is not blowing, but we still do not have a national hydrogen strategy for this important energy source. Deputy O'Rourke has introduced a Bill that would do just that.

What about our farmers? The Common Agricultural Policy used to be about food supplies at affordable prices. That has been ditched, the playing field has been changed and our farmers are ready to make the change, but instead of being at the centre of those discussions, they are being spoken down to and vilified. Decisions are being floated without their input, yet the Government talks waffle about engagement while supporting trade deals at European and global levels such as the Mercosur trade deal and the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.

The previous Government set a target of making Ireland the data centre capital of the world with no thought about the impact that this would have on our carbon emissions or energy capacity and, therefore, I do not blame those who have the least for speaking out against Government strategies. Climate justice involves a human-centred approach to climate action and should involve bringing together workers, communities and employers to drive plans to achieve targets in a way that leaves no one behind.

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