THE GOVERNMENT has been urged to establish a “genuinely independent” climate change commission, with a mandate to ensure that Ireland meets its targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Examining the policy options, the authors of a new report published yesterday by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), say that such a commission would need “protection from short-term political interference”.
Sue Scott and Thomas Legge, in Policy Options to Reduce Ireland's Greenhouse Gas Emissions, also call for "clearly defined incentives through a price on all carbon, and a transparent, dynamic and fair process with which the public can engage".
Ms Scott, associate research professor at the ESRI, and Mr Legge, who is climate programme officer at the Washington-based German Marshall Fund, say Ireland “can climb out of the current economic, social and environmental hole” by adopting the right policies.
Although their report concedes that Ireland faces a “difficult and long-term challenge” to reduce its emissions in line with EU targets, it says the current recession “offers an opportunity to lock in reforms that could reduce costs in the long-term”.
The report goes on to examine the “pros and cons” of different instruments available to the Government to put the country on a low-carbon trajectory of economic recovery – including the imposition of carbon taxes on diesel, petrol and heating fuels.
“Revenues should be used to offset income or labour taxes to aid competitiveness, with a share set aside to help the vulnerable,” it says, adding that experience with this approach abroad had been favourable and “widespread adoption would be ideal”.
Ms Scott and Mr Legge say carbon taxes should be applied to the 70 per cent of Irish emissions that are not covered by the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, which applies to major industries but excludes transport, agriculture, domestic and commercial sectors.
They point out that the Government controls a large part of the economy through regulation – such as specifying more sustainable spatial planning and better insulation standards – as well as through the public service and its ownership of buildings and vehicles.
The authors are dubious about subsidies, saying these require higher taxes to fund “and in the absence of carbon pricing they can be ineffective or even counterproductive”, although they were appropriate for research and development of renewable technologies.
“Emissions trading and carbon taxes are good at securing emission reductions at least cost,” the report says. “A genuinely independent Climate Change Commission could ensure consistency across policies and encourage public participation.”
It adds: “If the Government does not apply policies that ensure that a long-term credible price applies to all carbon emissions, accompanied by measures that support society, competitiveness and innovation, the nation will pay more to achieve its goal.”
Although the report forecasts that Ireland will meet its target under the Kyoto Protocol, mainly as a result of the economic recession, it warns that emissions in 2020 could be similar to what they were in 2005 without a “dramatic change” in current policies.
Climate change had “barely featured on the agenda of the primary forum for policy agenda-setting, the Social Partnership. Moreover, sectoral interests that rival the national good have consistently blocked worthwhile policy change in Ireland.”
Advocating the use of “economically efficient” policies, the authors say achieving sizeable reductions in emissions could be expensive.
