Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to propose a change to the Order of Business, "That No. 12 on the Order Paper be taken before No. 1".

I will start by thanking Sebastian McAteer for the drafting of the legislation that I have placed on the Order Paper today. Only this week, the Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Climate Action heard that while data centres currently represent 11% of grid capacity, the energy used by those existing connections will rise to almost 30% of overall capacity by the end of the decade. If all other data centres proposed for Ireland are allowed, their energy use would comprise 70% of the capacity on the national grid. This Bill, however, has its foundations in the CDP's Carbon Majors Report of 2017, which found that just 100 companies had been responsible for 71% of the global emissions since 1988. Corporations make significant contributions to global carbon emissions and must be held to account for their environmental impacts.Climate justice is not possible if State responses to climate change focus only on targeting individual consumption through carbon taxes, impacting low-income communities with low carbon footprints to boast, without also tackling, at the other end of the scale, the big polluters which create the most carbon emissions. In this context it is clear that legislation requiring private companies operating in Ireland to make mandatory public disclosures on the greenhouse gas emissions arising from their activities in the State is a necessity. Such a measure is built on the principles of transparency and accountability, the idea being that if companies are required to publish their emissions every year, public scrutiny and pressure and environmental considerations will cause them to adopt policies that will reduce their emissions.

The companies emissions reporting Bill 2021 is tabled in the same vein as a similar legal requirement in this area that has been adopted in other jurisdictions, notably the United Kingdom. It would require the disclosure of audited statements of greenhouse gas emissions by companies with more than 50 employees to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and includes a number of other important provisions. It is tabled in the spirit of ensuring that the burden of responding to climate change falls equitably and proportionally between those who make the greatest contribution, in keeping with the polluter pays principle, and to support climate justice and a just transition.