Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Climate change, as we are all aware, is one of the defining challenges of our time, with increasing emissions of greenhouse gases contributing to increased air and ocean temperatures, drought, melting ice and snow, rising sea levels, increased rainfall, flooding and other climatic influences. The urgent need for co-ordinated action is now very much to the fore as the global community converges in Paris in a matter of weeks to agree a new legally binding global agreement on climate change.

Ireland is very committed to playing its part both in terms of addressing the significant challenges of greenhouse gas mitigation and planning effectively for the future in respect of adapting to the impacts of climate change. To underpin this commitment and respond to the challenges highlighted, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, has seen to it that the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015, which sets out a comprehensive institutional framework for establishing, maintaining and reporting on both mitigation and adaptation policy measures up to 2050, is being brought before the House today.

Recent debate in the Lower House centred around the quantum of emissions reductions to be achieved but there has been precious little discussion of the practical and achievable means of meeting these reductions. I cannot overemphasise how important having in place such an institutional superstructure is in meeting the climate change challenge. We already have a national climate policy position. In April 2014, the Government approved a national climate policy position which sets out a long-term vision of low-carbon transition that is ambitious in demanding real and meaningful change in how we, as a society, live, work and travel. Decarbonising the economy will unquestionably create significant challenges but it will also bring about significant opportunities that many in the Irish business community are already embracing. Every day in my work as Minister of State with responsibility for business and employment, I see the opportunities emerging, with some significant research being carried out by Irish companies in this space.

I will address now one of the most significant and repeated criticisms of the Bill, that is, the absence of explicit greenhouse gas mitigation targets in the Bill. These criticisms are ill-founded for the following reasons. Ireland is already subject to legally binding greenhouse gas mitigation targets up to the year 2020 as a result of the EU's effort-sharing decision of 2009. This EU agreement is explicitly referenced in section 2(a)(iv) of the Bill. Moreover, negotiations are currently in progress in Brussels to agree further legally binding mitigation targets up to 2030 for each member state, including Ireland, arising from EU political agreement on the 2030 framework for climate and energy. This process of mitigation target-setting will likely continue up to the year 2050. In other words, Ireland is and will be subject to legally binding mitigation targets throughout the period up to 2050 as a result of successive agreements at EU level.

Putting in place our own separate mitigation targets would manifestly cut across and interfere with the EU's target-setting process for its member states. There can only be one of two possible outcomes. Either our own targets would be less than those set at EU level, thereby rendering them redundant, or, alternatively, we go about setting higher targets than those that would be agreed as being fair and achievable under the 2030 package. If the latter proves to be the case, then we must ask ourselves on what basis such a target could be proposed. We might also ask whether we are creating competitive disadvantages for ourselves compared with our EU partners. Accordingly, although I appreciate the motivations of those calling for explicit mitigation targets in the Bill, I do not believe that these calls have been properly thought through. In summary, I do not accept that the approach taken with this Bill in regard to mitigation ambition errs in any fashion and I will not countenance the inclusion of separate national mitigation targets in the Bill divorced from EU deliberations. I recall, from when I was a member of the environment committee, that in the initial hearings this issue was subject to much debate, and that was a couple of years ago.

Nonetheless, the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, has paid close attention to the views of others, both inside and outside the Oireachtas, on the Bill. In particular, where reasoned and reasonable arguments have been made as to how the Bill could be enhanced, and particularly those made on Committee Stage in the Dáil, the Minister has taken them on board. In this regard, on Report Stage in the Dáil, the Minister introduced eight sets of significant amendments to the Bill to enhance its functioning. These are: the inclusion of a reference to the policy of the Government on climate change; the inclusion of a reference to the principle of climate justice; the reduction in the timeframe for the production of the first national mitigation plan from 24 months to 18 months after enactment of the Bill; the inclusion of an explicit statement in the Bill that the climate change advisory council shall be independent in the performance of its functions; the reduction in the timeframe for the publication of the expert advisory council's periodic review reports from between 60 and 90 days after submission to the Minister to not more than 30 days after submission; the incorporation of the initiatives and experiences of local authorities in implementing greenhouse gas emission reduction measures when developing and approving national mitigation plans; the inclusion of a reference to the protection of public health when developing and approving national mitigation plans; and the change in the name of the "national expert advisory council on climate change" to the "climate change advisory council", mirroring the format used in respect of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council.

These amendments, which were passed by the Dáil last week, serve to strengthen the Bill so as to make it even more responsive to the challenges posed by climate change. I am satisfied that the Bill is now fully fit for purpose and I would be very slow to acknowledge the need for further changes to it. Indeed, I stress that it is now time for action. We cannot afford any further delay on this legislation. Much preparatory work is already under way and significant momentum has been achieved on several fronts. To lose this opportunity of passing into enactment Ireland's first climate change legislation would not only undermine progress already made but could also effectively threaten the prospects of making any further progress in the short to medium term in the race to address the significant challenges we face.

The Bill contains 16 sections and although I do not intend to use the time allocated to me in listing these in detail, I will recall the more significant provisions of the Bill.They are providing the institutional framework to ensure we make an effective transition to a low-carbon future through five-yearly national mitigation plans, putting in place plans which provide realistic and effective adaptation measures for the long term, giving the climate change advisory council an independent advisory role in this regard, and providing for an appropriate level of accountability of Government in reporting progress on both mitigation and adaptation.

The Bill strikes the right balance between ambition and realism in terms of the institutional framework necessary to develop, approve and implement robust mitigation and adaptation policy measures. Our vision of Ireland is for a competitive, socially focused economy built on sustainability. This Bill will put in place the framework from a climate change perspective to ensure Ireland is well placed to deliver on that vision. The case for action in response to climate change is unanswerable. Despite this, no specific climate change legislation has ever been enacted in Ireland and the Government intends to rectify that now.

I commend the Bill to the House.