Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am also grateful for the opportunity to contribute on the annual transition statements. I welcome the recent publication of the annual transition statement for 2020. However, the fact that it has come 18 months too late is not acceptable, especially in view of the ever-worsening climate crisis.

Annual transition statements have been an essential source of evidence of the Government’s record on tackling climate change. They are very important in holding the Government to account for its climate action commitments. Without this information we cannot accurately determine how the country is performing on climate policies and it can be hard for us to determine properly how to improve our impact going forward.

Having followed the debate on the Rural Independent Group motion, it is clear that the publication of annual transition statements is more important than ever. I am very afraid that we will go backward rather than forward. We cannot even afford to stay put at this stage. We need to move forward much more quickly than this Government intends, unfortunately. The truth, as this report shows, is that we are failing to move forward on climate change. We are at a defining moment, with rising sea levels, increasing temperatures, shifting weather patterns and threats to food production. The impacts of climate change are truly unprecedented in scale.

This Government's policies do not reflect the emergency in which we find ourselves. The ideas coming from the Government are, unfortunately, old, tired and not nearly strong enough. We see every day the impact of what is happening with climate change in the warnings we are receiving.

When preparing to speak, I noted a report on Twitter on global sea level rises. Based on the current trajectory, the sea level will rise by between 2 ft and 6 ft by 2100. That is a very conservative estimate, by the looks of things, and means that by 2035, Bangkok, Manila, Mumbai and Amsterdam, to name but a few cities, will be under water. That is the reality. None of these cities is an island. Some Members of this House may say that is great because it has nothing to do with us. It has everything to do with us. Whether we like it or not, Ireland is among the countries with the highest incomes in the world and we are contributing to this. We must try to prevent this from happening through some of the actions we take. Unfortunately, things do not look very promising.

I was inspired by the ideas put forward by the young people who debated climate action in the Seanad last week. They have shown such strong leadership and innovation on the climate discussion. Interestingly, they do not have a vote so we do not have to listen to them in this House. That is a problem and it just proves how important young voices are, especially when discussing climate change. They are the ones who will be most affected by it and, sadly, they are the ones who will be left to solve it.

If I may get a wee plug in, my Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Right to Vote at 16) Bill 2021 will move to Second Stage in the House next Thursday. The Bill proposes to reduce the voting age in Ireland to 16. We need to ensure that young voices are included in discussions such as this one. Giving them a vote would be a great step forward. The only way to ensure young people's voices are heard to give them a vote because the only thing politicians respond to is voters. We are ignoring a large number of people who need this change to take place because they do not have voice. It is their future we are talking about.

An annual transition statement is supposed to be an overview of climate change mitigation and adaptation policy measures adopted to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. It is supposed to suggest how to adapt to the effects of climate change in order to enable the achievement of the national transition objective. How are we to have conversations about what and how to adapt without the inclusion of the people this will affect? We need to ensure that young people are included in these conversations and significantly increase our climate funding. We also need to ensure we do not let the publication of the annual transition statement slip again.

It is important in respect of a just transition that we have a genuine and real just transition. People who are being affected are being left behind by the inaction of the Government. We cannot let the Government away with that because public buy-in and acceptance of the measures are necessary because they will become more rather than less onerous. They will also have to be done more urgently, so we must keep the public on board. The job of the Government should be to do this and the only way this can be done is to ensure people are treated justly and are not left behind or to wallow. That is very important.

I will put a series of questions to the Minister of State on behalf of Friends of the Earth. I ask him to answer them in his response. Will the sectoral ceilings add up to more than the national carbon budget passed by the Dáil? Will they align with Ireland's 51% emissions reduction target for 2030? Will every sector of the economy do its fair share to reduce emissions or are other sectors being penalised because agriculture may be dragging its feet, if that is the case? Will the Government ensure that any contingency fund or unallocated emissions budget is only used for sectors that are doing everything possible to cut emissions? I would be grateful if the Minister of State would respond to those queries.

See this speech in context