Michael Clifford: Government thinks climate change is happening on another planet

Politicians should not concern themselves with planning matters, not least when it comes to proposals that seem to fly in the face of climate policy, says Michael Clifford

Last week, Micheál Martin intervened in a planning row over a cheese plant. 

Can you eat cheese while talking out of both sides of your mouth? The Taoiseach appears to think so. 

Last week, Micheál Martin intervened in a planning row over a cheese plant. 

He appealed to the heritage body An Taisce to refrain from any further attempts to stop the building of a major new facility in Co. Kilkenny. The plant is to cost €150m and will be a joint venture between food processing giant Glanbia and a Dutch company. 

If it comes to fruition, it will be the biggest foreign direct investment in the dairy sector. The sector is apparently thriving. 

Another cheese plant, this one in Mogeely, East Cork, and owned by Dairygold, is to increase annual output by 20,000 tonnes as part of a €25m expansion.

The Taoiseach’s intervention in the Glanbia case was criticised by his Green party government colleagues. Politicians, and especially the most powerful one in the State, should not involve themselves in planning matters. 

But quite obviously, Mr Martin is perturbed at the ongoing delay and, according to reports, so also are most politicians in the south-east of the country. On one level, Mr Martin’s intervention is entirely understandable. 

In April, a High Court judge dismissed An Taisce’s application, suggesting that the heritage body’s real grievance was with government policy on the environment rather than the planning code. 

An Taisce’s remit covers planning, not politics. 

If the organisation has a problem with policy, it should lobby Leinster House rather than seeking redress in the courts. 

What’s sauce for the Taoiseach interfering in planning, is sauce for An Taisce sticking its nose into politics.

The row does, however, highlight how the Government is talking out of both sides of its mouth on climate change. 

In March, the new climate change bill was published, including a target of reducing carbon emissions by 51% over the next nine years. 

Yet, out in the real world, the Government turns a blind eye as sections of the economy are operating as if climate change is entirely somebody else’s problem. Agriculture and particularly dairy is a prime example of this. 

The Glanbia plant is required to process the increased amounts of milk being produced since EU quotas ended in 2015. 

At that time the national herd consisted of around 1.46m cows. According to the state research body Teagasc, this will increase to 1.65m by 2027. 

Emissions from cows have, in recent years, led to some discussion about whether and when the national herd should be reduced. 

Instead, the national herd is going to be increased, placing a higher burden on other sections of society and the economy to shrink or adapt in order to meet national emissions targets.

Currently, agriculture accounts for around a third of all carbon emissions in the country, but all forecasts are that this level will grow rather than fall in the coming years. The Environmental Protection Agency referenced this in its State of the Environment Report for 2020.

“Projections for the agriculture sector in the absence of any abatement measures suggest that greenhouse gas emissions will continue to grow steadily, mainly because of continued increases in the size of the dairy herd, and that by 2030 the contribution of agriculture to non-ETS emissions will be 50% as efficiency gains and the effects of policies and measures are seen in other economic sectors. 

"However, implemented and planned policies and measures are unlikely to change the status of the agriculture sector as a significant contributor to national emissions.” 

None of which is to say that the agriculture sector is ignoring climate change. Other efforts are underway to reduce emissions but the big picture stuff around the dairy herd is being left completely out of the picture.

In such a milieu, is it any wonder that An Taisce chiefs are tearing their hair out when they see plans to increase milk production at a time when lowering carbon emissions is a central plank of national environmental policy.

The Taoiseach’s intervention in the Glanbia case was criticised by his Green party government colleagues. File Picture: Mark Stedman/RollingNews.ie

Their frustration with the Glanbia case is highlighted in a circular sent around to members in the wake of the controversy.

“This case highlights a wider challenge that Ireland has to address - how to transition to a low carbon future without leaving people, communities, economic sectors or regions behind,” it read.

“The concept of a Just Transition approach has been presented as a framework for change. What is essential is that the government creates and communicates a clear pathway for change to the farming community, outlining how they will be supported in moving to more sustainable agricultural practices to benefit our environment, natural capital, and farming incomes.” 

The Taoiseach would, no doubt, be perfectly happy to use that passage in a speech on climate change and agriculture, just as he was happy to have a cut at An Taisce for its efforts to highlight why that passage is largely redundant, certainly as of today.

Central government is not alone in believing that climate change is happening on some other planet. 

Last weekend, the Sunday Business Post reported that councillors in Westmeath have been told to overturn a restriction on wind farms that effectively amounted to a ban.

Other local authorities have done likewise in response to various concerns and campaigns among residents about the siting of some wind farms. 

The Planning Regulator Niall Cussen has warned that these moves will prevent Ireland reaching its target of generating 70% of required electricity through renewables by 2030. 

Wind energy is central to climate change actions yet there has been a paucity of political leadership in the sector because it is so contentious. 

Better instead to pretend that we can all carry on regardless.

On Wednesday, one of the country’s leading economists warned that a disorderly transition to net-zero carbon emissions would pose a major risk to the global financial system. 

Philip Lane, currently the chief economist with the European Central Bank, told a conference in Dublin that a clear and steady transition was needed. 

If the transition was delayed or incomplete, “it means that we’re storing up a bigger adjustment for later on…then it becomes more of a macro risk factor.” 

Right now, there is plenty of storing up going on in this country. The imperative to get cracking on a just and equitable transition is completely absent. 

Keep going, boys, seems to be the message from the top of government. Sure, tomorrow is as far away as ever.