Ireland will pay for slow start in eco-fight

IRELAND is coming from behind in the drive to reduce its carbon emissions, partly because of the continuing development and partly because it has failed to tackle the problem over the past decade of record growth, according to experts.

Meeting the 16% target for renewables will create many more opportunities than problems as the country gradually replaces its near total reliance on oil.

The state cannot buy its way out of its problems by purchasing carbon credits, but must find ways of reducing emissions. They are to establish a Technical Advisory Group of experts to advise on how to do this.

Donal Buckley of IBEC said people do not realise the scale of what is needed to reduce emissions and neither the Government nor the EU has set out the cost or the mechanisms of achieving the targets.

“None of the actions have been costed — we do not know what is possible, and no work has been done on what can be done,” he said.

Different figures have been mentioned but they depend on so many variables and vary so much from one country to another that they’re not reliable, said Mr Buckley.

John Fitzgerald, economist with the ESRI that issued its first report warning about climate change in 1992, agrees and says that forecasting for 15 years ahead is almost impossible. “This is all happening far too late. It takes 20 to 25 years to make a change and now we are trying to do it rapidly. We have got so much to do, it’s going to be difficult to get there — and most of the EU is the same.”

Ireland is suffering from the fact that its infrastructure, population and wealth have grown massively over the past few years while no measures to tackle climate change were introduced.

He fears that Ireland may have to pay much more to rectify its situation now than what it will cost other EU countries and says that there should be a mechanism to ensure no country pays a disproportionate amount.

Friend of the Earth director Oisin Coughlan points out that a third of the country’s housing stock has been built in the past 10 years and it will be difficult to insist that insulation be upgraded in houses so new.

Transport is expected to continue to grow as the population grows and people travel long distances to work because so many have been forced to buy homes outside the big urban centres.

Mr Buckley points out that with so many of the cars on the road being new and reasonably fuel efficient by today’s standards, there are not too many options for reducing their emissions.

The answer will have to be to rapidly develop public transport and convince people to abandon or share their cars when travelling to work. But the Government must introduce a Carbon Tax on all fossil fuels to give people an incentive to switch to less polluting vehicles and methods of transport and to change heating systems, Mr Fitzgerald said.

Agriculture poses another massive problem and one unique to Ireland since 30% of harmful emissions come from farm animals, and Ireland’s huge cattle population in particular.

However, the changes required also offer significant opportunities, everyone agrees. Mr Buckley says Ireland’s high-end technology industry can benefit while Fine Gael MEP Jim Higgins says that the west of Ireland in particular stands to benefit from investment in wind and wave energy.

“While the initial financial outlay may be large, the potential is there for the west of Ireland to become a global leader in renewable energy technology and research, leading to growth in economic performance and an increase in jobs and employment,” he said.