Ireland’s emissions promises ‘a charade’, PAC hears

The Government has been accused of gross hypocrisy and of making a “charade” of its climate change promises, after it emerged it has spent more than €86m buying itself out of international environmental targets.

Senior Department of Environment officials also told the PAC that another €66.5m may needed before the end of next year.

Under repeatedly stated international climate change targets, countries across the world have agreed to cut down on their carbon emissions and pollution levels, with a 16% reduction by 2020 outlined.

However, nations struggling to meet those targets are also allowed to buy extra emissions allocations from other countries in return for those other nations effectively covering their emissions debt.

In a detailed letter to the PAC, the Department of Environment’s secretary general Mark Griffin said while the Government is committed to climate change reform, it is failing to meet its existing targets.

Responding to direct questions from the PAC, Mr Griffin said:

• Ireland has already spent €86.6m of taxpayers’ money on buying itself out of existing climate change targets;
• is set to spend another €6m-€13m to address further EU 2020 emissions targets deficits;
• and is likely to have to spend another €67.5m to buy itself out of further renewable energy targets by the end of 2018.

PAC chair and Fianna Fáil TD Sean Fleming said what is happening is “gross hypocrisy” and means the Government is making a “charade” of its climate change promises by hiding Ireland’s real emissions rates and

to using taxpayers’ money to “pretend we are coming in under target”.

“I want everyone who has an interest in the environment to know that it is a charade,” he said.

“We are buying unused credit emissions from other countries to balance our books and pretend we are coming in under target. [When actually] we are doing nothing of the sort.

“The State’s response, all of our response at Oireachtas and Government level, is entirely hypocritical when you read this letter."

In simple English, if we don’t meet our targets, we can buy our way out of the problem by buying unused emissions from somewhere else.

“It’s the biggest act of gross hypocrisy when it comes to the environment.”

“We are saying that if we don’t meet our targets we will buy unused emission credits from somebody else and pay the price,” Mr Fleming said.

The figures emerged as the Government continues to finalise its cross-departmental climate change plan, which Environment Minister Richard Bruton is expected to publish before the end of June.

The PAC findings also come just days after former US secretary of state John Kerry told an audience in Cork that governments across the globe are failing to take the climate change crisis seriously.