Parties negotiating the new programme for government are “open for discussion” on weakening some of the key elements of our existing national climate plan, according to reports in The Irish Times on Monday. Taking such a course would be a terrible mistake. The exit poll after the recent election proves that the silent majority of Irish people, who want us to act on climate, would be rightly appalled. It would not only be morally bankrupt, but would cost us all in the long run. We would miss out on the clean industrial revolution that is already taking hold and all the new green jobs that are already coming here.
Stepping up is not easy. The scale and speed of change required is unprecedented and is not always immediately popular. Fine Gael will miss some of its best climate leaders from the Dáil and Fianna Fáil has not had to grapple with the issue at ministerial level for almost two decades. Some of the Independents have also made a great name for themselves by opposing every measure. That cannot be a reason for steering the country in the wrong direction. It is vital that the programme for government gets the climate commitments right.
Firstly in transport, any weakening of investment in active travel and public transport, or failure to implement the Moving Together sustainable transport strategy, which was widely supported in public consultations last year, would make it impossible to reach our targets. The recently revised National Planning Framework commits us to delivering compact, low-carbon and balanced regional development. Everyone in Government agreed that a large proportion of the new growth would have to be centred around public transport developments, creating social, safe and green local environments. That is the only way we are going to be able to provide the high-quality and affordable housing we need. Going the other route only makes us more car dependent and adds to the cost of housing. It inevitably ends in congestion and it leads to road deaths and injuries, which bring such terrible loss.
Yes, we will have to spend a lot on new roads, prioritising those badly-needed bypasses of our most congested towns. However, if you switch the 2:1 ratio of spending on public transport and roads, as is apparently now being considered, there will not be enough funding for what we need, even with all the corporate tax money to hand. It would mean fewer metropolitan rail and BusConnects in Cork, Limerick or Waterford. No reopening of the Western Rail Corridor or light rail in Galway. No Navan rail line, and no way of making it safe for people to walk and cycle, which is where all the best international transport plans are going.
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The second test will be in finance. Some politicians depicted the carbon tax as the greatest burden known to man, but in truth it is the best way of protecting our most vulnerable people from the high costs of imported fossil fuels and poorly insulated homes. Rather than weakening our commitment to the tax, the new government should put the already agreed allocation of the revenues into social welfare, domestic retrofitting and funding for small farmers to restore nature, on to a legislative basis, so everyone can clearly see the benefits that the tax is delivering.
Third in energy, a key question will be how the new government invests long-term funding in our electricity grid while avoiding the imposition of undue costs on the Irish consumer. And whether it can do this while attracting industries here, who will be looking for countries they can rely upon for clean, secure and ethical power. I don’t believe there will be any rowing back from the new Green Deal in Europe. We will never be more competitive by relying on burning imported fossil fuels.
Fourth, it will be vital for the new government to complete the work of the Land Use Review taskforce that is due to report shortly. The aim of the review was to see how we could optimise the use of our land to support rural development, food production, the storage of carbon in our soils and forests, the return of pristine rivers and lakes and the restoration of biodiversity. The taskforce report could then be used by the newly established Just Transition Commission to consider how we make that complex series of developments happen in a fair and sustainable way. No doubt that is also going to require funding, which is one of the reasons why the programme for government should outline the proposed allocation from the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund, which needs to start flowing as early as next year.
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Last but not least, the new government needs to recommit to the science-based targets that were enshrined in our climate law. It puts it up to every relevant Government department and minister what they have to do. Any watering down of the resolve would undermine the whole approach. The new government should collectively agree to what was promised in the Fianna Fáil manifesto and join those countries willing to target a 90 per cent reduction in emissions by 2040. It is no doubt a massive challenge, but no harder than it will be to deal with the ongoing climate destruction that is increasingly happening before our very eyes.
I have no doubt that the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and other future ministers have a real understanding and commitment to the climate issue, but for too long it seems that political science trumps climate science when it comes to delivering the change required. Perhaps in the negotiations they might draw some strength from the question that Pope Francis put to politicians in his letter, Laudate Deum, two years ago: “What would induce anyone at this stage to hold on to power, only to be remembered for their inability to take action when it was urgent and necessary to do so?”
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