The current crisis will see the state spending an exceptional €30 billion or more protecting our health and economy. As a result, there will be much more limited resources over the coming decade, making it more challenging to find the necessary investment to tackle climate change.
Except for electricity generation, we have made little progress in this area over the last 10 years, with emissions rising. Because we have failed to act with sufficient ambition, we have all the more to do now. The longer we delay action, the more expensive it will be to get to net zero emissions by 2050.
Much of the heavy lifting to get there requires significant up-front investment, for example developing our public transport system. The return in terms of reduced emissions will take some time to be realised as these works are completed. That is why it is essential that this investment is ramped up soon, and not crowded out by short-term fixes, or other policy priorities.
While the lockdown may reduce this year’s emissions by over 5 per cent, as the economy re-opens there will be an inevitable rebound, and much of these gains reversed. Rather than slowing economic recovery, we need to accelerate the decarbonisation of the economy as the recovery takes hold.
Faster action on the measures set out in the outgoing Government’s climate plan is a good place to start. If we seek greater ambition in reducing emissions, we must build on and add to the measures set out in the plan.
Agriculture
Our target is reducing net emissions of greenhouse gases. Measures which take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and permanently lock it in, are as useful in halting climate change as addressing potential growth in new emissions.
Agriculture accounts for a third of emissions and change in land use has a big part to play. Planting additional woodland on some of their land would offer farmers a more secure income, take carbon out of the atmosphere and reduce stocking rates, cutting methane emissions.
To make this happen, the incentives under the EU Cap need to be restructured, alongside other measures to make the change easy and attractive for farmers. While it takes time before trees begin to absorb substantial amounts of carbon, such investment today will pay off in the future. For a quick win, a change in the type of fertiliser used could reduce Irish emissions by 0.8 per cent at very low cost.
Transport accounts for 20 per cent of emissions. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has shown that rural households live three times farther from everyday services. The greatest scope for switching car users to public transport, or indeed to cycling or walking, is in our cities.
To achieve a large-scale shift from car use, we need to invest in the capacity and reach of urban public transport. The Bus Connects project could achieve a significant reduction in emissions in the coming decade. The time-lag involved to build the planned Dublin metro may not see much climate impact before 2030, but that makes it all the more important to begin it soon, so it helps us achieve our 2050 zero net emissions target.
Heating
Electric cars will be key in reducing transport emissions from our dispersed rural population. For goods traffic, where electric vehicles are less effective, biofuels may be part of the solution to decarbonising.
Home heating accounts for 10 per cent of emissions. Full retrofits of 1.5 million homes will be a slow and expensive process. For those in the queue, incentivising smaller-scale interim measures, such as improved insulation or replacing inefficient heating systems, could help deliver more rapid reductions in emissions in the intervening period. Banning the burning of coal and peat in all urban areas would cut emissions and improve air quality and public health.
With oil prices going through the floor, this needs to be counterbalanced by a higher than planned increase in carbon taxation, incentivising industry and households to produce and consume in climate-friendly ways. Otherwise we will be encouraged to burn more fossil fuels than ever, both in heating and in driving – once we are allowed out.
We need to tackle climate change in the most efficient and cost-effective ways. We need not only to achieve falling emissions in the next few years, but also to make the investments now that will produce substantial reduction in emissions in the medium term.
Such investment must be our climate priority. We have spent a lot of time discussing targets, now is the time for action through implementing a range of different measures.
