The Green Party said comments by Taoiseach Enda Kenny at the Climate Change Summit, New York, that "Ireland will play its role as part of the EU contribution to the global effort", belie the fact that the government are actively campaigning for the lowest emissions targets possible.
Green Party Climate Change Spokesperson, Dr Cara Augustenborg, said: "The reality is that the European Union is surrendering its leadership position on climate change, and our government is one of the most active when it comes to watering down emissions targets and abdicating from responsibility on the issue.
"Without a stronger commitment to decarbonisation, we simply will not meet our 2020 targets. To date, the Irish government have repeatedly expended precious political capital in European negotiations in an attempt to lower our contribution to the reductions in emissions that the Union has to commit to for 2030.
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"In every area of the State we are missing targets and deadlines. The government have secured a special exemption to avoid emissions reductions in the agriculture sector; civil servants in the Department of Transport have briefed new Minister Paschal Donohoe that his Department will fail to meet its necessary contribution; and in the energy sector, the proposed 2030 targets for renewable energy will lead to an actual fall in the existing level of investment.
"We may be a small island, but we have some of the highest per-capita emissions in the world. We have a responsibility to act, but the economic opportunities opening up in the clean energy sector are also being squandered. Over the last three years, Labour and Fine Gael have done absolutely nothing to show they are taking the climate crisis seriously.
"Rather than seizing the opportunity to make the economic recovery green and innovative, the Taoiseach is protecting vested interests and the economic model that has already failed the environment. He talks about Ireland being a world leader in delivering new low-carbon technologies, but current economic policy is driving us in the opposite direction."
(CD/JP)
