On October 7, 2020, the government published its draft text of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill, the first step in setting the country on course to become climate neutral by 2050.
As the climate bill faces its second round of Seanad debate on Friday (June 25) nearing it closer to enactment, Minister Eamon Ryan has defended what some TDs have called a “rushed” procedure to get the legislation over the finish line.
The minister said in the Dáil last week that one of the reasons there is “pressure to get this bill through” is that the government wants to include this year for implementing measures. “We are on a tight timetable,” according to the minister.
Getting the climate bill through in a “timely manner” allows Ireland to play its part “both within the EU, which is looking to set higher and more ambitious climate targets, and as part of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which will meet in Glasgow this November to commit to higher ambitions”.
According to the minister, in pre-legislative scrutiny undertaken by the Joint Committee on Climate Action months ago, it was “unusual in that the committee went through the draft text of the bill line by line and word by word” – with those “50 hours of discussion” contributing to finalising the bill, subsequently approved by government on March 23.
EPA Climate Change Conference
Speaking at the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Climate Change Conference this week, the minister said he hopes for the process to be concluded before the Dáil summer recess and for the bill to be enacted in the autumn.
The minister expressed at the conference that the time is now to “ramp up ” the ambition on climate change.
“The truth is we need to scale up action and that’s never been seen before. We can do it,” he said.
“I believe it can be good for our country and good for our economy and that we can manage it in a way that delivers just transition.
“I believe it is absolutely doable, and doable in a way that actually strengthens the Irish family farms and increases farm incomes, which is critical.
“What we want to do is bring a whole new generation of young farmers into managing our land and getting paid well for looking after our natural world.”
The minister spoke of the changes that the new Climate Action Plan might “inspire and bring”, noting the impending land use review.
“Centre to this is our commitment in the Programme for Government for a land use review, and out of that a land use plan, which optimises across several different targets – firstly in rural development and in getting this new generation of farmers; but also in storing carbon and paying our farmers for storing carbon in our land; for restoring biodiversity at the same time; and improvements in water quality.”
Seanad debate on climate bill
Speaking during the first Seanad debate on the climate bill this week, Green Party senator Róisín Garvey said that the bill “is something I have dreamed of for 30 years”.
“The bill will normalise climate change. For too long the approach was to give a pat on the head to the green people and the eco-warriors and to say it is lovely what they were doing that little green project over there somewhere on the left field,” the senator added.
Senator David Norris asked the Seanad: “Why is the EU still buying Brazilian beef?”
“We have farmers and beef producers in this country. We are told it is not our business and that it is in Brazil. It is our business,” the senator said.
“Is it worth buggering up our environment for the sake of a burger?”
Senator Timmy Dooley said that “undoubtedly, there are concerns in the agriculture sector” when it comes to the climate bill.
“It is no harm to have that debate on an ongoing basis to give some level of comfort to the effect that it is not about cutting the national herd,” the senator said.
“There are some, perhaps in the cities and urban areas, who believe that because agriculture is such a significant emitter of CO2 equivalent, that is where city folk will see the problems resolved.
“It is outside their bailiwick, as it were. They forget that the quality food produced in rural areas is produced by farmers who have a far lower carbon intensity, if one looks at carbon equivalent intensity, than those anywhere else in the world.
“That is where we must be strong in identifying long-term solutions, without reducing the capacity of people who live and work in rural Ireland to continue to do so.
“Every sector must accept that it has to change. It is not just transport, energy generation or agriculture.
“I have spoken to the various farming bodies and organisations, as well as farmers I know. They understand it better than most. They see the impact of climate change on their day-to-day lives. They see the issues with flooding and the changed seasons, and the impact they are having on the collection of fodder for feeding their cattle.
“They understand it better, quite frankly, than some who live in a city.
“Collectively, we should not be trying to divide society. We must stand by each other. All of us must do our bit within our own area of responsibility.”