Government to unveil climate change plan

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Minister for the Environment John Gormley will today unveil Ireland's Plan of Action on Climate Change…

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Minister for the Environment John Gormley will today unveil Ireland's Plan of Action on Climate Change at Government Buildings today.

The five-year, €15 million strategy is designed to raise public awareness of the effects of climate change and ways of changing behaviour to reduce its impact.

New statistics published this week by the European Commission projected that Ireland will emit 5.5 million more tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2010 than it agreed to produce under the Kyoto Protocol.

However, the Government has told the EU it will meet its commitment to tackle climate change under the global agreement by buying carbon credits and investing in green energy projects abroad.

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Mr Gormley reiterated this week that he was committed to making reductions of 3 per cent a year in greenhouse gas emissions and would unveil the first carbon budget report to the Dáil next week, outlining his new approach.