Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Ministers and Ministers of State who attended. Hopefully, it is an acknowledgement of the gravity of what the planet faces and the need to work together and speed up what we need to do to change fundamentally.

I have two observations. I reiterate to the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, that 7 million people die annually from air pollution alone, according to figures released by the World Health Organization, WHO. The significant increase in respiratory diseases has an impact but that has not been accounted for within the health portfolio. We also do not account for famines and starvation because of failed crops, food insecurity and toxic land, nor do we account for new and emerging contagious diseases. We need only look at the dreadful state that Yemen is in with 17 million people at risk of starvation there.

As a member of the Joint Committee on Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, I am looking over the Citizens' Assembly recommendations and our report will be due in the next two months. Hopefully, there will be another debate on that in this Chamber but when we speak of climate change globally, we must first speak about the effect it is having on the third world. Indigenous peoples living ancient ways of life from the Arctic Circle to the nomadic peoples of the African continent are suffering the most from the actions of the so-called luxurious western world because of our emissions and the effects they are having on the poorest countries.We all listened to his eminence, David Attenborough, yesterday. He was a special guest at the climate summit and he stated that the collapse of our civilisation is on the horizon. I do not believe it can be put more starkly than that and I do not know if we can take that in.

When we speak about climate action in this State, unfortunately, we have come late to it and it has been a failure so far. Although we are a small State, we are an island that can lead by example. We must see climate change not as something on which to blame people but on which to encourage people. We need to see climate change not as a burden but as an opportunity to improve our environment, create long-term jobs and create security of supply of energy on this island.

The shocking reality, unfortunately, is that all our targets to address climate change are failing. Emissions are rising and not decreasing. We will not reach targets of renewable electricity and we will be well off-target when it comes to renewable transport and heat. Many key players in energy and climate change, operating the electricity grid, regulating the industry, suppliers and the Government directing this policy have failed. We have all failed. We have failed by our inaction and not doing enough to prevent further deterioration in our climate and environment. The energy types of our very near future will be very different. The power system of the future will be very different. We need to take more than the baby steps that are being taken now.

On energy sources, for instance, microgeneration, it will play a part in building a wide portfolio of energy sources and we wish speedy passage of Bills that are sitting in the Dáil or Seanad, because we cannot delay them. The Minister needs to be pro-active and get those Bills, from whatever party they come, passed and he should not put obstacles in their way.

The development of a wide portfolio of renewable energy sources needs to displace fossil fuels. Some provision is made in the new renewable electricity support scheme, RESS, on offshore wind, but there is no movement on the streamlining of the arduous planning reform needed for offshore development. We need vision and ideas to be able to see the opportunities. We have one of the best resources in Europe for offshore wind and we have barely anything in place. Scotland is a country with a similar population and its level of offshore wind is phenomenal.

Our peat plants are converting to biomass, but we are not establishing a native biomass industry. Instead we will be importing fuel from across the globe for this industry which is a contradiction in terms. We have one of the best resources in the EU for biogas and we barely have any developed. Developing this energy will help on emissions from agriculture and is a renewable gas that may also be used as transport fuel.

On the transition statement and some of the actions, which we are trying to take on board as this was just published today. It needs more in-depth consideration than the quick scan of it we could do today. In respect of this transition statement and some of the actions, we can look at transitioning the Moneypoint plant away from coal by the middle of the next decade. No decision has yet been made on this and from what has been said, the State would seem to wish to convert the plant to natural gas, at a cost of €1 billion. This is a limited vision.

We are to have at least 500,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2030, with additional charging infrastructure to cater for planned growth. The current figure for this charging infrastructure is tiny. I do not know how we are going to cater for half a million vehicles over the next ten or 11 years.

The climate action fund of at least €500 million was announced. I think that was announced previously and it equates to €50 million a year, which is welcome. It will see development of areas where we are way behind, but the amount is minimal compared to what people already contribute to renewable energy on their electricity bill through the PSO levy.

Addressing climate change crosses many different areas. We had seven Ministers in here today. It is about changing planning legislation, developing new crops, changing housing regulations, and transforming our transport infrastructure. It will need changes to training, new apprenticeship schemes and new industries like biomass and biogas. These cannot be plans for the distant future because we need them now, with joined-up thinking between different Government Departments.

Climate change has often been described as thinking globally and acting locally. We need to stop being short-sighted in our approach. We need to think globally, which we are not doing, and we need to act locally. We need action now.

Will the Minister of State support now the Just Transition Declaration made in Poland this week to implement such a transition here for the protection of workers while we shift to a sustainable environment?