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The Government has claimed its new Climate Action Bill is the most ambitious published by any country to date.
Minister for Climate Action and the Environment Eamon Ryan has said by enshrining into law the halving of carbon emissions by 2030 and reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, the Government has gone further than any other administration in striving for the targets set out by the Paris accord.
“No country has ever set such an ambitious target,” said Mr Ryan, also leader of the Green Party.
“It’s a challenge beyond compare but one we are going to achieve,” he added.
Mr Ryan was speaking at a joint press conference in Government Buildings with Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar.
Mr Martin told reporters: “I am very proud that the Government of Ireland has chosen action.”
The Fianna Fáil leader said the Bill would consign into the past the failed climate action plans of previous governments. He focused on the tangible targets and the introduction of five-year carbon budgets as major agents of change.
“It is hardwiring into law the targets [for emissions reduction] and also the carbon budget objectives as well, done on a [sector-by-sector] basis.
“That is hardwiring into law a fundamental change in my view over a 10-year time frame. A decade can be transformative in terms of innovation.”
Mr Varadkar said this new Bill would accelerate the climate ambition of the State. Describing it as hugely ambitious, he focused on the legally binding requirement to have ceilings in various sectors for greenhouse gas emissions.
One change in the final Bill is the commitment to achieve by 2030 a 51 per cent reduction in emissions compared with 2018. Fine Gael initially opposed it being included. Mr Varadkar said the Coalition arrangement with the other two parties necessitated compromise.
“We bring different perspectives. While Eamon was the head chef, I was very happy to be one of the sous chefs in putting it together.
“We were happy to include the 51 per cent,” he said, adding there were safeguards in relation to not jeopardising public finances or foreign direct investment.
Asked how 51 per cent reductions would be achieved, Mr Ryan accepted it would be a challenge but pointed to some of the policies and funding already in place. He said Ireland was now committing 20 per cent of all the transport budget (or €360 per annum) to active travel, something he said no other country was doing.
He said the Government had committed €250 million this year to retrofitting homes; and had also committed €150 million to rewetting bogs.
He said Ireland needs to reduce emissions from 60 million tonnes or carbon dioxide equivalent in 2018 to 30 million tonnes in 12 years.
He said clean electricity including the development of offshore wind would be important there.
On agriculture, and the problematic question surrounding the size of the national herd, Mr Ryan argued that “less cattle means more money”.
However, both other leaders talked in terms of “stabilising” the national herd.
Mr Martin said farmers did need to diversify to increase their incomes and said margins in the beef sector had been very low for a long time.
He referred to the REPS 2 scheme which will reward farmers for looking after the environment.
Mr Varadkar said: “We need to have a mature discussion with farmers about stabilising the size of the herd. It is possible to reduce emissions without reducing the size of the herd,” he said, but added it would be very difficult.
He also made the point that Fine Gael had included stipulations in relation to making a distinction between methane emissions and bio-methane emissions (there are arguments that the latter emissions are less damaging to climate).