Government trying to ‘buy way out’ of Kyoto

THE Government was yesterday accused by opposition parties of deliberately ignoring the seriousness of climate change.

On the publication of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, the Green Party claimed that the Government had repeatedly shown that climate change is not one of its priorities in spite of its claims to the contrary.

Leader of the Green Party, Trevor Sargent, reasoned that if greenhouse gas emissions are not stabilised within the next decade, climate change was likely to become a “catastrophic runaway event”.

Emissions will have to be reduced by at least two thirds in the coming years, according to Mr Sargent.

“Because of our massive untapped renewable resources and our benign climate, we should be leading the drive to meet the challenge.

“However, one thing is now certain: political leaders cannot continue to ignore it,” he said.

However, Environment Minister Dick Roche said that Ireland is playing its part in the international response to global warming having ratified the Kyoto Protocol.

He added that the Government would reach its targets using all of the available mechanisms, including domestic action, participation in EU Emissions Trading Scheme and support for projects in developing countries.

“We have successfully decoupled our greenhouse emissions from economic growth and we are on course to meeting our 2012 greenhouse gas emission reduction target under the Kyoto Protocol through a combination of cost-effective measures,” Mr Roche said.

Fine Gael’s environment spokesman, Fergus O’Dowd, echoed the criticisms of the Green Party, stating that a new approach which focuses on reaching local targets to reduce overall emissions is required.

He added that Ireland had the potential to be a world leader when it comes to environmental issues, particularly in the areas of energy generation, public transport and reducing carbon emissions at a local level.

If elected to Government, Fine Gael has pledged to compel local authorities to conduct a full inventory of CO2 emissions in their area and then produce a plan of action in consultation with local businesses to reduce these emissions.

“Fianna Fáil’s solution is to try and buy our way out of the problem by using taxpayers’ money to purchase carbon credits but this is nowhere near good enough,” Mr O’Dowd said.

Labour’s Eamon Gilmore said the current approach by Government to “buy its way out of Kyoto” was “environmentally irresponsible” as well as being detrimental to the Irish economy.

His comments centred on the Government’s plans to buy 3.6 million tonnes of carbon per annum between now and 2016 at a cost of €270m.

“This is a gross under-estimate of the total potential cost.

“For a start, the 3.6m tonnes does not take any account of the additional 1.5m tonnes which may now have to be bought following the European Commission’s decision to reduce the Emission Trading Scheme Allowances by that amount,” Mr Gilmore said.