![Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman gave it a cautious welcome, but warned it showed signs that the “foot may be coming off the [action] pedal, right at the most critical time”](https://www.irishtimes.com/resizer/v2/FCFBJWMZTJCT7M3WDA7GEUAG4Q.jpg?auth=15eb8e8e213cadb22e5fd79b4936ca3bb8925d770d27e868d84a5e2499489d7b&smart=true&width=1024&height=683)
In unveiling his first climate action plan, Darragh O’Brien tried to strike an upbeat note.
“Climate action is happening up and down the country every day, with retrofitting and more energy efficient homes, thereby reducing energy bills, with more reliable Local Link bus services connecting towns across Ireland, and more home-grown wind power driving energy security,” the Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy said on Tuesday.
[ Measures in 2025 climate plan will be at centre of social and economic development, Government says ]
He could have added scale-up of solar panels, which are evident almost on every street.
But it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the delayed 2025 climate plan lacks ambition reinforced by new actions and policies.
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It fails to detail how the Government proposes to address an emissions reduction gap between what is needed and reality; that risks widening in the 2026-2030 period despite a legally binding carbon budget outlining limits in carbon dioxide that sectors can emit.
Sign-off was delayed because of the transition to a new government, although – in fairness – the new administration has taken on board most actions drawn up by its predecessors.
Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman gave it a cautious welcome, but warned it showed signs that the “foot may be coming off the [action] pedal, right at the most critical time”.
The climate crisis risks becoming uncontrollable and there is an increasing threat of extreme weather events – no time for delay when current targets are likely to prove to be inadequate.
The political line being trotted out is that the 2025 plan is a holding one, whereas the 2026 equivalent will be a definitive master plan to get us back on track. There are only a few months to make that leap and make sufficient progress in weaning off fossil fuels.
The Government is due to announce a “national DMAP” whereby multiple sites are designated for offshore wind development.
However, if this move is successful – attempting to accelerate roll-out of renewables infrastructure – it could be the most significant climate action over coming decades rather than anything in the 2025 climate plan.
The Government says, with some justification, that each yearly plan builds on the previous one, so the sum of their parts must be factored in.
Later this year will come an acid test of the European Union decarbonisation ambitions as it must increase its targets – known as “nationally determined contributions” – in advance of climate negotiations in Brazil (COP30). Ireland, by extension, will be included in this revised collective target.
In February, the European Commission suggested a non-binding position of a 90 per cent emissions reduction by 2040. Any rowback on that by Ireland would belie its stated position of being a global leader on climate action and – to put it at its mildest – would not be in the interests of a dangerously overheating planet.
