Ireland the EU’s black sheep on greenhouse gases, says Doyle

GOVERNMENT proposals to cut Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50% over the next 12 years were called into question by an Irish MEP attending the UN Conference on Climate Change in Bali.

Avril Doyle, one of the European Parliament’s delegates to the conference, said while the EU is on target to deliver the reductions it promised, Ireland is the black sheep, lagging behind.

Because the country was classified as rapidly developing when the Kyoto Protocol was agreed, Ireland was permitted to emit 13% more CO2 than in 1990.

However Ireland is emitting 24% more greenhouse gases than in the base year of 1990.

“But the Government has signed up to binding targets of 20% less than in 1990 levels by 2020 and 30% less if international agreement is reached this week. I beg the question: does Minister Gormley have any idea what he is signing us up to in Bali?” she said.

Ms Doyle, a member of the Parliament’s Environment committee, said she hoped to meet Environment Minister Mr Gormley in Bali and challenge him on his commitments.

She said the budget has not provided the kind of incentives needed to tackle the problem as funding for promoting energy efficiency initiatives has been halved.

Ms Doyle warned there are financial implications for Ireland if the country continues to miss its targets. The Government is committed to purchasing the 95% of carbon credits the country is likely to exceed its target by for 2012 at a cost of €270 million.

“If we continue with our current approach, the entire fruits of the last decade’s economic growth will have to be spent on buying carbon credits, or on fines from the European Court of Justice,” said Ms Doyle.

As well as purchasing carbon credits the Government has undertaken to achieve a 40% energy improvement on current standards in buildings; reduce emissions from transport; improve their energy efficiency management by for instance by promoting energy saving light bulbs; and by educating the public on energy change.