The recent downturn in the economy does not reduce the need to tackle carbon emission; even if greenhouse gases were to stop, there would still be an effect. That was the message delivered by Owen Ryan of the Department of the Environment during a seminar he led on Ireland’s climate change policy at the Resource and Recover event in the RDS at the end of March.
“It takes years and years for greenhouse gases to go away,” he said. “We must prepare for the effects from current and historic greenhouse gas emissions as well as future emissions … It must be embedded in all policy areas.”
Ryan described the Kyoto Protocol as a first step which has allowed “a certain amount” to be done. “We know it was not enough,” he said. “We are prepared to do more, but so must other developed and developing countries.”
Ryan said we were about to enter a dynamic period of negotiations, culminating in the climate talks in Copenhagen next December. To reach our targets would require “a phenomenal change – not just a little tweaking here and there”.
“We are facing one of the greatest threats ever faced by mankind,” he said. “Global greenhouse gas emissions must be halved by 2050. Developed countries, like Ireland, must reduce by 80%. Our aim is to reduce our emissions as much as possible, and then buy credits, as necessary. The amount we have to buy is an indicator of how successful we are doing in reducing emissions.”