The Green Party today called for a cross-party approach to reduce the State's carbon emissions by 3 per cent annually over the next ten years to tackle climate change.
Speaking the day before top UN scientists release a report on the impacts of global climate change, Green Party leader Trevor Sargent said it was now time for action.
He called on other political parties to resist the temptation for point scoring and said that a cross-party approach was essential because "this, for us, is the biggest challenge that this country has ever faced".
Energy spokesman Eamon Ryan TD added: "Fianna Fáil are assuming that we will only have to reduce our emissions by 2 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020 rather than the 30 per cent overall reduction that the EU is committing to."
He described the National Climate Change Strategy as "atrocious" and said the claim that Fianna Fáil would have a sustainable transport policy by the end of next year as "a sham" and "a fraud".
Mr Ryan also criticised Fine Gael, saying that although they have are calling on the Government to set climate change targets "they have failed to set any such targets for an alternative government."
The Labour Party were also criticised by Mr Ryan for giving no indication as to how they will achieve its pledge of 20 per cent reduction in climate change emissions by 2020.
Green Party environment spokesman Ciarán Cuffe committed a future Green government to a target of reducing climate change emissions to 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.
"We aim for this on the understanding that there will be international co-operation on the issue of climate change; that the European Union will be working towards the 30 per cent reduction, which scientists say is needed; and that we will have a slight derogation on that target due to our lower than average 1990 figure."
He went on to say the Greens would oblige the Minister of Finance to balance the carbon account in his annual budget in the same the financial books are balanced.
Mr Sargent said any future government that involved the Green Party would have to commit to 3 per cent reduction in climate change emissions per year - but that they were open to negotiation as to how that was achieved.