Activists: Changes have  ‘gutted’ the Climate Bill

Despite the bill being the culmination of a decade's worth of campaigning, the coalition said, it is merely the 'starting line'.

There is little point in cementing the new Climate Bill into law unless it radically transforms policy and breaks away from our reliance on fossil fuels, environmental campaigners have said.

Reacting to the final debate in the Dáil to the bill, Stop Climate Chaos (SCC) — a coalition of civil society organisations — said that it is "time to move beyond climate rhetoric and into climate action" once and for all.

The bill would enshrine into law an interim target to reach a 51% reduction in carbon emissions by end of the decade, and to set Ireland on the path to net-zero emissions no later than 2050.

Despite the bill being the culmination of a decade's worth of campaigning, the coalition said, it is merely the "starting line".

Last-minute additions to the bill caused a furore among campaigners and scientists, with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scientist Professor John Sweeney telling the GreenNews.ie website that amendments "gutted" it.

Elaine McGoff, natural environment officer at An Taisce, a member of SCC, said: "While the bill represents a sea change in how Ireland proposes to tackle the greatest problem of the 21st century, several aspects of it are disappointing."

Clarity regarding the extent to which steady annual progress towards the 51% reduction target is specified in the bill is missing and responsibility for ultimate compliance surrendered to the climate change advisory committee, she said.

This potentially facilitates taking the radical steps necessary being left to another government at a time when the window within which we can avoid dangerous climate change is closing rapidly.

Davie Philip of Cultivate: the Sustainable Ireland Cooperative, said a focus on individual behaviour change over systemic and community approaches to climate action is shortsighted. 

"To accelerate carbon reductions and strengthen local resilience, we need investment in community-level climate action plans and transition programmes, along with support, training and capacity building for community activists and facilitators to engage citizens, especially those marginalised, in local-level dialogue and collaborative action.”

Ciara Murphy of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice said that while weaknesses remain in the bill, including some introduced at the last minute, the inclusion of a more comprehensive definition for just transition is to be welcomed. 

Just transition is the term used to describe making sure employment opportunities and societal benefits are present for those who may live and work in communities tied to legacy energy industries, such as coal mining or peat extraction.

Ms Murphy said: "This bill does not exist in a vacuum. Our lethargic response to the environmental crisis sits alongside, among other things, a housing and homelessness crisis and intensifying inequality and economic injustice. In the long run, an unjust transition will not only hamper climate mitigation but also deepen these already entrenched inequalities and vulnerabilities.”

 

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