John Gormley’s confirmation that the Green Party will demand a climate change law in the review of the Programme for Government is to be hugely welcomed. According to a recent report in The Sunday Business Post, the Minister for the Environment is to demand the introduction of climate change legislation as its price for continuing in government with Fianna Fáil.
Green ministers will propose the plan for the legislation at talks on a new programme for government in the aftermath of the local and European elections on June 5th. A climate change bill would make government commitments to reduce carbon emissions and other measures to combat global warming legally binding. A similar law has been introduced in Britain.
Commitments in the existing programme for government to reduce carbon emissions are likely to be met, but mainly because of the economic contraction – particularly in the construction industry – rather than because of reduction measures. The Greens want to enshrine further reductions in law before the economy recovers and the emissions begin to climb again.
The government has already committed to a 20 per cent reduction in carbon emissions from 2005 levels by the year 2020.
If the climate change summit in Copenhagen this December is successful, that could increase further. A climate change bill would set down steps which industries would have to take in order to reduce emissions in line with this target.
To read the full report, see
http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=NEWS-qqqs=news-qqqid=41963-qqqx=1.asp/.