Government's environmental pledges 'not strong enough', says report card
And Report Picture The In And Marine Water Ireland Said Still Forestry, Is Agriculture Poorly The Faring And File
The Government has “scraped” a grade of B- in an independent assessment of how it is performing on its environmental commitments, but has been told its pledges in this area “were not strong enough in the first place”.
In the fourth and final report card since this Government took office, the assessment conducted for Friends of the Earth acknowledges that Ireland has made significant progress, rising from a C+ grade last year, but says faster action is now needed in a number of areas.
“The commitments in its Programme for Government were not enough to achieve a truly sustainable society or meet our national and international climate targets,” it said.
“While we are relieved that 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.”
The report said improvements has been made in several areas compared to last year, including in nature and biodiversity, waste and the circular economy. It is still faring poorly in agriculture and forestry, and water and the marine, according to the report.
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Although highlighting shortcomings in what it had set out to achieve, it said that the Government achieved “a good degree of what it set out to accomplish”.
It also highlighted how it went beyond original promises “by playing an outsized role” in the passing of the EU Nature Restoration Law and the enacting of legislation for a Climate and Nature Fund.
Given a general election is looming in the near future, the experts who conducted the assessment said there are key areas that the next Government should prioritise.
This should include a detailed roadmap for a fossil-free economy and a detailed plan for a sustainable agriculture sector, they said. They also called for a “coherent, consistent, all-of-Government strategy” for climate communications.
Furthermore, steps should be taken to train Ireland’s workforce to meet the needs of future work in these sectors, including retrofitting.
Dr Paul Deane, Senior Lecturer in Clean Energy Futures, MaREI, University College Cork, and one of the experts who contributed to the assessment, said that Ireland has not lacked ambition when it comes to climate, but “it has lacked agility”.
“The Government has laid a good foundation to build a decarbonised future, the challenge now is to build the structure at speed,” he said.
Meanwhile, another contributor, Dr Diarmuid Torney, associate professor at the School of Law and Government at DCU, said that the Government “shouldn’t be content to rest on its laurels”.
“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,” he added.
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