Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The UN IPCC climate report, published yesterday, represents a last wake-up call. Decisions made this decade will have an impact lasting thousands of years. Although the window of opportunity is closing, the report makes clear some feasible and effective options are available to us to reduce emissions. I will ask the Taoiseach about three of them. First, the report states we must phase out fossil fuels if we are to limit global warming. Countries will have to cease all licensing or funding of new oil and gas and stop expansion of existing reserves. Can the Taoiseach say that Ireland will ensure that exploration licences now in place are stopped from progressing any further? My second question relates to land use. When will the emission reduction targets for land use be agreed? When will the land use review be published?

On SUVs and transport, yesterday we heard Professor Peter Thorne of Maynooth University warning of the climate consequences of SUVs, in the context of the number of these new diesel and petrol SUV cars on our roads being a big part of our climate problem. Has the Government considered a progressive, weight-based tax, such as that introduced in France, to penalise the use of these fossil fuel guzzling and extremely large SUV cars?

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