Draft Bill on Climate Change before Cabinet today

The Government will move one step closer to publishing a full climate change Bill today when the Cabinet is expected to give approval to draft legislation.

Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan will bring the heads (a draft) of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill to the weekly Cabinet meeting today. If the memo is approved it will pave the way for full legislation to be prepared by the parliamentary drafting office.

The gestation of the Bill has been a long one and not without controversy. In the Programme for Government the Fine Gael and Labour Coalition promised to publish a climate change Bill by the end of 2012. However, soon after assuming his ministry Mr Hogan signalled he wished to conduct a comprehensive review of climate change policy.

Target date
Following several reports and a public consultancy period, the department published an outline of the Bill last autumn. The heads constitute the second stage before the full Bill is published. A tentative target date of later this year is being suggested.

The proposed legislation has been criticised for not including binding targets for key dates, namely 2030, 2040 and 2050. Instead there is a commitment to make Ireland a low-carbon country by 2050 and also a provision in the legislation – heavily emphasised by Mr Hogan – that Ireland will comply with any targets for emissions reduction set out by the EU.

Other major features include the establishment of an expert advisory body, comprised of between six and eight members, which will advise the government and issue regular reports.

The earlier iteration of the legislation also included a requirement for a national road map to be renewed every seven years, as well as sectoral road maps for each relevant government departments.

The Minister will also be obliged by the legislation to present an annual report to the Oireachtas detailing the progress in transitioning to a low-carbon economy.

In addition to the heads of Bill, Mr Hogan is also expected to publish the Government’s new policy strategy on climate change today, which will be complementary to the legislation.