Opposition parties and environmental groups have called for immediate action by the Government to address climate change after it emerged that greenhouse gas emissions have undergone a steep rise in Ireland.
Yesterday The Irish Timesrevealed that a report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to be published next week, is expected to show that greenhouse gas emissions in 2005 surged by more than one million tonnes to some 70 million tonnes.
The rise, in the region of 2 per cent, will see emission levels at more than 25 per cent above 1990 levels in 2005, or 12 percentage points ahead of the Kyoto target.
It follows a report by the UN panel on climate change last week which warned of catastrophic impacts from climate change unless emissions levels are reversed.
Yesterday, Minister for the Environment Dick Roche said that while the results were disappointing they had been expected, and the Government was committed to meeting the Kyoto target.
He said the Government would be publishing a revised climate change strategy in April.
Reacting to the report yesterday, Green Party leader Trevor Sargent accused the Government of having its "head in the sand" in relation to tackling climate change.
He said its current plans, which focus on purchasing carbon credits to make up for the predicted shortfall in reaching the Kyoto target, were insufficient.
"Ireland's emissions are currently running at nearly double the increase allowed for under the Kyoto agreement," he said.
"The 'business as usual' approach is not affordable and is simply not working. The Government must take its head out of the sand and advance policies that reduce Ireland's emissions at source. It should be implementing practical, efficient, green solutions that have long-term benefits."
Labour environment spokesman Eamon Gilmore said immediate action was needed, especially in relation to the transport sector, which has driven the rising emissions levels.
"Years ago the Environmental Protection Agency singled out the transport sector as a significant source of air pollution in Ireland. The Government continually ignored such warnings.
"As a result the massive 8 per cent rise in traffic emissions recorded in the EPA report is a major contributory factor in the overall 2 per cent increase in greenhouse gas emissions."
Fine Gael agriculture spokesman Denis Naughten called for the introduction of mandatory biofuel levels to be blended into standard petrol and diesel.
"We have now reached crisis point in Ireland in terms of the damage we are doing to our environment, and yet our Government continues to treat it as a mild irritant instead of an urgent priority," he said.
"The transport sector has been identified as one of the largest offenders in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. Fine Gael's policy is that we will introduce mandatory fuel blending. This would mean that petrol would be blended with ethanol and diesel with rapeseed oil to produce biodiesel."
Yesterday Friends of the Earth called for action by all Irish parties before the election, with a commitment to introducing a climate security act making it the law to reduce emissions by 3 per cent a year.
"It's clear long-term targets don't work on their own," said Friends of the Earth director Oisín Coghlan. "It's too easy for the Government to keep putting off the action required."
He said a climate security act was "the only way to ensure Ireland does its fair share to prevent climate chaos of the sort the UN report highlighted".