Irish Examiner View: An acid test - Green's coalition prenup

Green Party TD's outside Dáil Éireann

The Green Party’s 17 coalition demands may not be as vague as the Fine Gael/Fianna Fáil framework document — described as a colouring book for adults — but there is plenty of wriggle room in it.

It, most of all, dips a toe in the waters to see if either FG or FF have reached the point where they see environmental reform as a do-or-die necessity rather than a fluffy luxury our economy cannot afford.

The pandemic complicates that equation tremendously, but it does not resolve core issues around climate change and the implications it has for this small island.

The Greens want annual reductions of 7% in carbon emissions and though this would be extremely challenging at the very best of times, today’s crisis does not in any way make it possible to ignore that obligation, no matter what the figure is.

EU sanctions over emissions will not be suspended because of the pandemic.

Just as the pandemic is forcing us to reappraise many things, the response to the Greens’ document will show whether or not their suitors are serious about trying, at the 11th hour, to avert climate collapse.