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The Green Party/ Environmental Non-Governmental Organisations (ENGOs) Bilateral meeting on Climate Change.
Friday 22nd July 2005
Cultivate Sustainable Living Centre, 15-18 West Essex Street, D8
Attended by:
Ciarán Cuffe TD – Chair
Eamon Ryan TD
Emer O’Siochrú Feasta
Pat Finnegan Grian
Erik Van Lennep Sustainable Ireland
Ray Edge Sustainable Ireland
John Bowler No2Nukes/An Taisce
Oísin Coghlan Friends of the Earth
Dharragh Hunt
Claire Byrne
Irish Government Policy
There was a general consensus that the Irish Government has failed on the issue of Climate Change. Both the Green Party and the ENGOs have experienced great difficulty in getting the current Government to engage with them on the issue of climate change. Éamon Ryan said that the Green Party have been pushing for the issue to be debated in the Dáil but this suggestion had been met with a general lack of interest. The ENGOs expressed their frustration at lack of public support for tackling Climate Change and environmental issues in general. Nonetheless, it was agreed that more public awareness campaigns from the NGO’s and action from the public in the form of letters and emails etc. was necessary to increase the level of political engagement of the issue.
Erik suggested that a proper Climate Change Strategy would require initiative and action from all government departments. He also said that the Government is failing to acknowledge the real and dramatic changes that will result from Climate Change and that it has therefore failed to develop a sector of expertise that will prepare society for these changes.
All agreed that the National Climate Change Strategy is incomplete, as Oísin said, ‘it has been gutted and is now gutless’. Although there is a cross-departmental climate change working-group, tasked with reviewing Ireland’s Climate Change Strategy, there is no opportunity for ENGOs to impact, advise or consult with this group. There is an urgent need for the Government to move towards an alternative strategy. With 40% of Irelands emissions trading on the EU market, the focus now needs to be on the other 60% emissions in the non-trading sector. It is vital the ENGOs and the Green Party influence government thinking on how it will deal with this.
There was agreement that there needs to be a lot more effort on the Irish Government’s part, with significant investment in the renewable energy industry. Éamon Ryan suggested the need to link the climate change issue to energy and transport policies and to the developing world.
The idea of ‘Contraction and Convergence’ was discussed as a means of presenting global Climate Change solutions that would engage and convince the public and force our Government to act on its international commitments. However, there was some disagreement on how easy it is to explain this concept to the public. However, all agreed that the solution was to tie the issue of climate change to concepts of equity and justice, particularly from a communication point of view. Emer focused on the idea of carbon quotas, where everybody received a fair and equal share of the global commons. She suggested that ‘fair share’ and ‘tradable’ were concepts that would resonate with the public. Éamon mentioned that a national carbon tax would have the advantage of revenue staying in the national economy. Emer argued that a dual system was unfair where the individual is taxed. She claimed that the carbon quota system is much more attractive as poorer people will benefit form this greatly as they will have more to sell than those who take 3 holidays abroad a year.
There was consensus that the Kyoto Protocol and the European Trading System were insufficient. With Erik pointing out that even if the protocol was fully embraced by all its members it would still be inadequate. And while the CDM was a potentially good system, to date big businesses had used their resources to fund experts to help them ‘wriggle out’ of their responsibilities. We should consider whether we could introduce some form of national carbon allocation system, while also investing in the development of the renewable energy industry.
EU Policy
There is a new European Environmental Agenda due out this autumn, which will probably focus largely on Climate Change. Pat envisions a new European position emerging this year, a Lisbon Strategy with a Gothenburg element added on to it being the most probable outcome.
Peak oil is a major issue in Europe at the moment, with an emphasis on the reduction in fossil fuel usage. Nuclear power is also being considered as a real alternative, with 61% of all energy research and development funding being channelled in to this area. According to John with an efficiency ratio of 7:1, it is not an economically viable option. He went on to say that, ‘if we were to build enough nuclear power stations to replace the use of coal alone, then we would have to be building one a day from now until 2020’. Governments are reluctant to fund the building of the reactors and are thought to be considering opening the market to private business, which have so far been reluctant to invest in the building programme. Aside from the cost element, there are simply not enough earthquake-safe locations to accommodate the amount of reactors needed to sustain current energy requirements.
The proposal by the UK to build new smaller reactors, which may be cheaper than the current ones, is still not a real solution as the same safety issues will arise, most notably that they are potential terrorist targets. However, the idea of using nuclear power as an initial alternative - until the renewable energy industry is further developed - has been mooted by certain European governments. Indeed, the nuclear industry seems to be winning the PR battle in Europe. For example, a recent recommendation to Irish Government by DKM Consulting, indicating that the Government may have to reconsider their stance on the issue, confirms this. However, as Emer pointed out, the one positive aspect of this is that the nuclear debate is getting the issue of climate change on the agenda.
Emissions Targets
In discussing emissions targets the issue of public communication arose again. The general consensus was that a target needed to be agreed for use in debates and public statements. However the terms ‘less than 2°’ and ‘parts per millions’ are difficult for the public to understand. Éamon suggested using percentage reduction targets as a good method for communication, aiming for ‘40% by 2020 and 80% by 2050’. Emer argued that these targets are too far into the future to engage public interest. However, Ciarán pointed out that the 0.7% of GNP target for development aid was a good example of setting long-term targets, which the public supported.
As the reduction in gases is the crucial issue here, the Green Party energy policy is looking at the ‘total primary energy requirement’ of Ireland. We have outlined how and where we can move from fossil fuel to renewable energies to continue to meet this requirement. The idea is to secure a 20% energy claw-back via energy efficiency gains by 2020 and move towards an 80:20 renewable to fossil fuel ratio, which should be possible in Ireland. Transport and housing policies should also be considered. The whole strategy should be focused on affordable, clean and secure energy.
There was consensus that we need to have quantifiable emissions reductions targets. There was less agreement on how far into the future the dates we chose should be. One compromise suggestion was to design a format where targets were set out on a year-by-year basis.
Communication
It is paramount that the message of how real, serious and imminent the issue of Climate Change is. This urgently needs to be communicated effectively to the general public and to the Government. This can be done by:
- The ENGOs getting the information out there. Understanding the lack of resources available to them, it was suggested using the media, targeting certain newspaper editors etc., to raise the profile of the key issues and the profile of the ENGOs’, which in turn would generate more revenue, and therefore provide more resources. Continuing in campaigning, and encouraging members of the public to lobby issues in the form of letters and emails to government representatives.
- The Green Party should continue to develop their energy policy, push the issue of climate change for debate in the Dáil and raise issue in political circles.
- More investment is needed in Irish television programmes addressing and highlighting environmental issues.
- It is very important to always use clear, concise and comprehendible terminology to ensure the public can appreciate and engage with the arguments being put forward. For example, using the terms ‘fair’ and ‘tradable’ when explaining the idea of carbon quotas and emission trading systems and avoiding some of the technical language associated with expert debates on these issues.
- It is important to raise awareness of some of the more frightening possibilities, such as the effect of the shut down of the Gulf Stream, the impact of the mass migration of environmental refugees as places become uninhabitable etc.
- Increasing the level of communication between the ENGOs and the Green Party. Working together more on the common issues and utilising the expertise of the ENGOs when raising the issues in the political agenda
- Including ENGO representatives in Environment Committee meetings.
Other Business
It was agreed that we would meet again at the end of October. (Friday 21st October, date and venue to be confirmed.)
The following forthcoming events may be of interest.
20th - 21st September 2005: Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Environment visit to Sellafield, Cumbria, UK
Friday 23rd September 2005
No2nukes: 10am – 2pm, EU offices Molesworth Street, Dublin 2
Irelands Role: Global Energy Choices in the Climate Change: The potential of renewable energy – The demise of Nuclear Power.
28 November 2005 - 9 December 2005
The First Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol and Eleventh Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC takes place from 28 November 2005 - 9 December 2005 in Montreal. Canada is hosting the historic first Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (MOP-1), which is taking place in conjunction with the eleventh session of the Conference of Parties (COP-11) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
For more information contact: UNFCCC Secretariat; tel: +49-228-815-1000; fax: +49-228-815-1999; e-mail: secretariat@unfccc.int; Internet: http://unfccc.int/meetings/unfccc_calendar/items/2655.php
This should be a target for the ENGOs develop strong campaigns in advance to ensure as much coverage and discussion as possible, which will hopefully put a national focus - and pressure on our national Government - on this international meeting.
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