'Maddening' that Sinn Féin refuses to give emissions target for farmers

The refusal of Sinn Féin and others to state where they stand on reducing greenhouse gases is "sadly inevitable, but maddening", a leading climate expert has said.

As the three Government leaders were locked in talks late last night to find an agreement on the carbon cuts that will have to be made by farmers, the main Opposition party came out to say it does not hold any position on the critical climate change issue.

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan is pressing for a reduction target of 30%, while its Government partners in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are seeking a cut closer to 22%.

It is understood both sides edged towards the centre to a reduction target for agriculture emissions somewhere between 24% and 26% by 2030, however, there was waning optimism that a figure could be agreed before the Cabinet meets this morning.

Earlier in the day, Sinn Féin climate spokesperson Darren O'Rourke said his party holds no position on the level of emissions cuts farmers should be asked to make and refused to say whether the national herd should be reduced.

"The targets must be fair, they must be ambitious, but they must be achievable," he said.

What that means in terms of percentages, what that means in terms of the transformational change that's going to happen across every sector — that needs to happen across every sector — we do not have the detail, line by line, percentage by percentage, and we're not going to pick a figure out of the air." 

Reacting, Professor Peter Thorne, a climatologist at Maynooth University, said the hedging of various positions from political parties on emissions was “sadly inevitable, but maddening”.

Maynooth University Professor Peter Thorne/

“The science is crystal clear; we must halve our overall emissions of greenhouse gases by 2030 and reduce to net zero for CO2 by 2050," said Prof Thorne, who is a contributing lead author on the recent UN-backed International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports.

"You do not need to rely upon make-believe or magic.

“If there is the political, societal, and economic will to make it happen, it is a conscious choice. 

Future generations will look back on us potentially with despair. They will say you had everything, absolutely everything, you needed to do what needs to be done, and you chose not to."

Environmental body An Taisce has also been critical of the approach taken by Sinn Féin, describing it as a “bad faith delay” in taking a clear stance on the issue. An Taisce said Sinn Fein's position can have the same impact as climate denial.