Eamon Ryan confident Green Party members will support emissions cuts plan

Mr Ryan acknowledged that the emission targets will have to be revised upwards in the future, particularly in relation to land use. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews

Environment Minister Eamon Ryan has expressed confidence that Green Party members will support the Government’s emissions cuts plan.

Agreement was reached on Thursday on the cuts that will be required across each sector in the next seven-and-a-half years after days of lengthy discussions between the three coalition parties finally reached a conclusion.

Farmers will have to cut their greenhouse emissions by one quarter by 2030 under the deal hammered out by the three main Government leaders on Thursday afternoon.

The agreement comes after exhaustive talks between Green Party minister Eamon Ryan, who had been pushing strongly to set agriculture emissions cuts at the upper limit of 30%, and his coalition partners.

However, greenhouse gas reduction targets set down by the Government fall short of the 51% cut required by 2030 under the law.

Mr Ryan acknowledged that the emission targets will have to be revised upwards in the future, particularly in relation to land use.

There was a lot more work to be done on the plan, he told RTÉ radio, while he also agreed with comments by the Chair of the Climate Advisory Council, Marie Donnelly, who said that this work needed to be done in the next 18 months.

The Government will heed and follow the advisory council's advice, Mr Ryan said, adding that the Government was on the right path. There was “justice” in the targets proposed because everyone was involved. 

Mr Ryan acknowledged that the emission targets will have to be revised upwards in the future, particularly in relation to land use.

“We need to pick up our speed, pick up our steps, start to jog, start to run, start to sprint”.

The first step was about protecting and restoring nature as well as addressing climate change, but this would not work without a strong economy. 

“It has to be good for our people. It has to give us protection against the faster high fossil fuel prices and the insecurity of relying on imported energy.”

It took time to change farming and land use, he said. 

It takes time to plant a forest. It takes time to change a farm. It will take us time to bring in a whole new generation of young people [who] we want to go into farming as well as those within it at the moment.

“But we want to create a system where we have a whole new generation of people who are the frontline defenders of nature as well as producers of high-quality food.” 

Later, speaking on Newstalk, Mr Ryan said “this is a complex jigsaw scientifically, especially how we manage land”.

He said it was important not to have a blame game so that the actions that needed to be taken could commence. 

Mr Ryan added the reality was that everybody needed to act now, it was not just about protecting the environment. It was about becoming self-sufficient when it comes to energy because Russian president Vladimir Putin was using energy as a weapon of war. 

Ireland needed to develop its own power sources so that the country was not held hostage by other countries, he said, adding that changes should not be viewed as a punishment, they were good for society and would create jobs.

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