The Green Party has today (Wednesday, October 7) welcomed the publication of the government’s Climate Action (Amendment) Bill 2020.
Following on from targets in the Programme for Government to achieve an average 7% per annum reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade, the Green Party says that the bill “commits Ireland, in law, to achieving carbon neutrality by the year 2050”.
Responding to the publication of the bill this afternoon, chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action and Green Party spokesperson for Climate Action Brian Leddin TD said:
“This bill is one of the most critically important steps in this government’s response to the climate emergency and it is a vital step which will compel the government, and future governments, to act by setting carbon budgets for each sector, and mandating a climate action plan, to be revised every year, to achieve compliance with those budgets.
“It will serve as the foundation for the government’s plan to reduce emissions by 51%, or 7% a year, over the next 10 years.
“This bill gives us the framework for sustained climate action. It will force both the government and our local authorities to comprehensively plan and implement a pathway to an Ireland that will have net zero emissions by 2050.”
Stay tuned to AgriLand to find out more about what this bill will mean for agriculture.
MEPs vote in favour of 60% emissions cut
Meanwhile, MEPs have voted in favour of a 60% greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target by 2030.
The issue has caused divisions in the European Parliament as the commission proposed a 55% cut while the Greens wanted 65%.
In the end, 352 MEPs voted in favour of the 60% figure while 326 voted against.
Green Party MEP for Dublin Ciarán Cuffe says overall, it’s a good result: “The result of this is that it puts pressure on the European Commission to really take climate action seriously, and I think they will.
“I think it will ‘beef up’ the European Green Deal and I think it’s a good result for Europe; it’s a good result for climate.”