The Coalition has shown strong ambition but lacked agility in tackling the climate and biodiversity crises, a challenge that will need to be urgently addressed by the next government, according to an independent panel of experts.
Among its six key recommendations for the next programme for government are the adoption of “a detailed roadmap for a fossil-free economy and a detailed plan for a sustainable agriculture sector”.
“The Government has just scraped a B- overall grade in fulfilling their own promises to address climate change and protect our environment,” concluded the three experts who completed the assessment for Friends of the Earth (FoE).
Crucially the independent assessors concluded: “The commitments in their programme for government were not enough to achieve a truly sustainable society or meet our national and international climate targets”.
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“While we are relieved Ireland has turned a corner away from our ‘climate laggard’ origins this is just the start of a long and important journey for Irish society, and momentum will have to accelerate over successive governments to make Ireland a genuinely sustainable economy,” they said.
They called on the next government to make additional commitments from planning for fossil fuel phase-out to enhancing public engagement and aligning State agencies with climate obligations.
The report card marked the Government out of 10 in nine areas. Its highest scores came in the categories of waste and circular economy (8.5; up from 7.5 last year), nature and biodiversity (7.5; up from 6.5 last year) and buildings (7.5; up marginally from 7 last year). The lowest scoring categories were water and marine (5; same as last year) and agriculture and forestry (5; up from 4 last year).
“This year the Government has done enough to merit moving from last year’s C+ grade to a B-. This reflects action across a range of areas. Nonetheless, the Government shouldn’t be content to rest on their laurels,” said DCU climate specialist Dr Diarmuid Torney. “As we move into an election cycle and the formation of a new government it is important that all parties commit to continuing and strengthening action on climate and environment in the years ahead.”
Dr Paul Deane, an energy expert at MaREI in UCC, said the Government had laid a good foundation to build a decarbonised future. “The challenge now is to build the structure at speed. Ireland has not lacked ambition when it comes to climate, but it has lacked agility, and this will be the challenge for the next government.”
Panel chair Dr Cara Augustenborg, an environmental scientist based in UCD, said it was a relief this Government had largely taken their own promises seriously: “We are turning a corner toward a more sustainable Ireland but still have a long way to go to address worrying trends in environmental health. I hope this process shows the next government we are always watching, and civil society will continue to demand more ambition and faster implementation of environmental commitments in any future programme for government.”
The latest report card shows that when a government prioritises an issue in its programme for government, progress is possible, notably in reducing climate polluting emissions, said FoE chief executive Oisín Coghlan.
Initial commitments in the programme for government remain critical, he said. “That’s why Friends of the Earth will now be pushing all political parties heading into the general election to commit to the faster and fairer climate action we need to stay within the binding limits on pollution we have agreed to under both Irish and EU law.”
The six priority issues for the next government are:
Climate Action: Establish a detailed roadmap for a fossil-free economy and a detailed plan for a sustainable agriculture sector. This includes revising Food Vision 2030 to align with the long-term vision of achieving net-zero emissions “to ensure resilience to climate shocks are at the heart of our food system”.
The National Planning Framework should include regional energy targets; prioritising support for grid infrastructure projects and removing fossil fuel subsidies (including in aviation).
Engagement: Develop and implement a coherent, consistent, all-of-government strategy for climate communications, taking sufficient account of the different strata in our society. “The focus of communications should be on the opportunities of decarbonisation as well as the progress already made.”
The Government should engage with the public via a communication campaign to highlight the evidence of poor air quality on human health. “Daily air quality measurements could be used in a weather app to showcase that urgency” However, to utilise Ireland’s exceptional air monitoring network all monitoring stations must be well-maintained with adequate equipment.
Nature: To address Ireland’s biodiversity crisis the next government should immediately implement the Nature Restoration Law backed by a national restoration plan. To achieve this there needs to be adequate resources to fund restoration projects on both private and public lands. It should also commit to moving forward recommendations from the Citizens’ Assembly, Children and Young People’s Assembly and the Joint Oireachtas Committee, including biodiversity education across society.
Economy: Align graduate and apprentice training programmes with climate and biodiversity plans, circular economy plans and retrofit and repair services. “We will not meet ambitious environmental targets if we fail to sufficiently train Ireland’s workforce to undertake this important work,” they warn.
Governance: Ensure all government departments and State bodies act in a manner consistent with commitments in the climate law, backed by amending their legal mandates.
Commitment: Take a more interconnected approach to environmental policy between departments and State commitments in “SMART ways” (ie are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound). They suggest, for instance, current commitments to “ensure compliance with the Water Framework Directive” should be broken down into a series of “SMART-er commitments”.
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