Results 741-760 of 3,983 for speaker:Jennifer Whitmore
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)
Jennifer Whitmore: I thank the Minister.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)
Jennifer Whitmore: I want to bring it back to basics a little bit. I appreciate the Minister is talking about problems with delivering on climate action. I understand there are a number of significant challenges in that regard. I also do not want to undermine the work that has been done and the fact there has been progress in some areas. I want to bring it back to the Climate Action Plan 2023, however,...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)
Jennifer Whitmore: Am I correct in saying then, even if that was incorporated, the EPA analysis said it will still only meet 42% of the 51%?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)
Jennifer Whitmore: The science is variable and very complex, and we still have a target of 51%. That target is not going to change regardless of the complexity of achieving it. If the climate action plan cannot put a percentage reduction or policies in place to represent a percentage of reduction in emissions to 2030 for certain sectors, is it not the case that the remainder of the policy should be making up...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)
Jennifer Whitmore: That is a considerable amount of flexibility though, if we are saying that our policies will meet 29% when we have to meet 51% That is not flexibility.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)
Jennifer Whitmore: That is what the EPA has said the current action plan specifies.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)
Jennifer Whitmore: Will the climate action plan be finalised at the end of this month?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)
Jennifer Whitmore: What additional emissions reductions will be incorporated? When the EPA does its analysis next June, will we be looking at another percentage point difference, up to 30% of the 51% following the changes to climate action plan, or does the Minister anticipate that we could be potentially up to 35% or 40%? What percentage reduction will the next climate action plan achieve?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)
Jennifer Whitmore: So carbon capture and storage will probably be a component of the 2004 plan.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)
Jennifer Whitmore: In relation to the discussion that we had this morning, one of the issues that is frequently raised with us is that in order for us to meet our climate actions, what we need is policy coherence across all levels and elements of Government and the climate action plan is an attempt to do that. Often we do not see that, particularly when it comes to agriculture. Indeed, what the Minister will...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)
Jennifer Whitmore: He attended this morning.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)
Jennifer Whitmore: There was interaction on the issue this morning.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)
Jennifer Whitmore: The plan for reductions in the dairy sector was a voluntary scheme and would have to have been a part of just transition. It would have given farmers an alternative. However, that work does not seem to be progressing at all, which is a shame. The Minister mentioned wind turbines earlier. We must be cognisant of biodiversity impacts and the potential to switch off the turbines in the...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)
Jennifer Whitmore: Hydropower is renewable.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)
Jennifer Whitmore: Will the Minister communicate with the ESB in respect of that issue?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)
Jennifer Whitmore: Will he do so again formally?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)
Jennifer Whitmore: I want to flag something with the Minister. I am on the board of a rivers trust, and one of the key problems is that we have a lot of fantastic expertise but we do not have any administrative support. When you go for funding it is difficult to get any money to provide that. We have the best experts when it comes to ecology, river management and so on, but we do not have the administrative...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)
Jennifer Whitmore: I thank the Minister for that. In relation specifically to the direction the Minister issued to Gas Networks Ireland, GNI, that they were not to connect data centres to the gas supply, is this direction statutorily robust? Is it the case that this is now in place and there is a moratorium on-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)
Jennifer Whitmore: The EPA, in its analysis in June, in which it reviewed how progress was made against the climate action plan, projected that emissions from the agriculture sector will decrease by between 4% and 20% to 2030. Based on the EPA's analysis, therefore, the maximum reduction in emissions from agriculture will be 20%, but the reduction could be anywhere between 4% and 20%. Is the Minister in...