We need to put Climate Bill back on agenda before it’s too late

WHERE’S the Climate Bill, Minister Hogan?

It was meant to be published by the end of the year, but there’s only a few more days left before the battered Government TDs limp home for Christmas.

Environment Minister Phil Hogan committed to having the “heads of bill” published by the end of this year in his famous “Roadmap for Climate Policy and Legislation” last January.

But no sign of it yet. And the word is out among the environmental organisations that the bill will set no firm targets for reductions in carbon emissions because the Attorney General’s office is worried about the possibility of this or any future government being hauled into court.

Friends of the Earth is running a little “Complete the sentence” competition starting with “A Climate Bill without targets is like....”. Suggestions include, “A pub with no beer”, “a dart board without a bull’s eye”, “a bike without a chain”. But the most telling of all is “a child with no future.”

It’s hard to believe that there is such difficulty legally committing to EU targets on climate change in a State which has just passed an amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing in its laws “the right of the child to such protection and care as is necessary for his or her safety and welfare.”

What good will such protections be if our children, or their children’s children, or our children’s children’s children are faced with a world which is four degrees warmer? That’s where the World Bank says we’re headed. And they say it would be so different from our world that they can’t even imagine it.

There would be widespread drought, hunger and starvation. There would be massive heatwaves and floods and cyclones. Coastal cities would be under water.

They say we still have it in our power to avoid this and protect future generations. What we need to do is stick to “inclusive green growth and climate smart development” within national and international agreements.

But we’re not doing very much of any of this in Ireland and you have to ask why. It’s not because the people don’t believe the science. In a recent EU survey the Irish identified climate change as the biggest threat faced by humanity, unlike the British, bless them, who feared international terrorism more.

The problem is that we don’t know what we can do about it. We’re not being led by politicians who want or care to show us a pathway to a safe future. We’re being led by politicians who want to show us a pathway to the next general election.

The spiral downwards is speeded by media commentary dominated by the voice of the angry little man. Don’t give me that guff about my grandchildren having no future. I’m not changing my light bulbs.

And so it goes on. The Climate Bill is nowhere to be seen and when it appears it may have no targets. That hasn’t happened by chance. It has happened because there is hardly any awareness of the threat of climate change in the Dáil and next to none in the media.

And the horrible truth is that even if the Climate Bill does eventually appear it won’t be effective unless the Dáil wants it to be. It may play as a win for environmentalists, but there is no guarantee it will be a win for future generations, because any future Dáil can ignore or change the provisions of the bill.

For an example of this, we need look no further than the UK where a Climate Change Act was passed in 2008. It’s debatable how much impact it had even on the Government which introduced it. But since the Conservative/Lib Dem Coalition has come in, it has basically been set aside. British environmental writer George Monbiot put it more strongly when he set “a match has been set to it.”

A new Energy Bill plans for the expansion of the gas and coal industries and explicitly lets the UK government out of any real commitment to apply green technology such as “carbon capture and storage” to new developments.

This is why I think the focus of the environmental movement in Ireland on climate legislation has been too narrow. It’s certainly worth trying, but it won’t have much effect if the people don’t buy the message that a low-carbon future is a better one.

And no-one is out there selling that message. Those of us who work or volunteer, as I do, for environmental organisations have failed badly. We haven’t managed to engage people in the struggle against climate change. We haven’t managed to give them any hope that it’s possible.

And it is possible. Last year our greenhouse gas emissions actually reduced, and although the recession was part of the reason, the rest was the proportion of our energy which is now produced from renewable sources.

We need to hear that our potential as a producer and exporter of renewable power from wind and possibly wave is immense. That importing 90% of our energy needs by importing fossil fuels is a mug’s game.

Yes, we need that hated carbon tax and it needs to be on highly polluting solid fuels. But we need to use that money and ramp up capital spending to invest in a massive insulation project, with a particular emphasis on the homes of the elderly.

The insulation industry has stalled and yet it was identified by the recent National Economic and Social Forum report on climate change as a potential driver of change. And construction workers with fine skills are signing on every week.

Most of all we environmentalists have failed to sell the message of international co-operation. The future is not about retreating to mud hut villages and doing our knitting in the dark. At least, it might be. But no-one wants it to be.

Instead we need to reach out beyond futile competition with other nations and build alliances. The EU is the most significant alliance for us, and it is also the power block which has made the most significant commitments to tackling climate change.

Irish environmental organisations may reach the end of what is likely to be the hottest year on record with no Climate Bill in their paws. But they and anyone who cares about our future need to face the New Year with a new communications strategy.

The Doha summit has at least kept the Kyoto process in place until 2015. Our best hope of making an international impact — and safeguarding our own future — is through the EU and from New Year’s Day we hold the presidency.

Somehow we’ve got to find the strength to persuade Enda Kenny and his comrades to lead the charge for a new, mandatory EU greenhouse gas reduction target for 2030 of 40% below 1990 levels.

And it would certainly be a start if he could get Big Phil to put the targets back in the Climate Bill.