The science is unequivocal: the climate and biodiversity emergencies are real and we are beginning to experience their impact. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stated that there remains a window of only one decade for us to make the radical changes needed to halt the warming of our planet and in doing so save millions of lives, protect our natural world and change the way we live for the better.
The changes we need to make in the coming decade are substantial, but we believe that they can be hugely beneficial to all of our people – urban, rural, young and old. We in the Green Party have been learning about the solutions to climate breakdown for 40 years. We know that climate action has to be at the heart of all our policies. This means that our housing policy delivers warm, affordable houses in strong and vibrant communities; our transport policy ensures that those communities can access zero or low carbon, affordable and reliable transport options; and our energy policy greatly reduces our costly emissions by ramping up renewables while also giving us complete energy security for future generations. We will deliver this change.
This is what sets us apart from other parties. Politicians from traditional parties can no longer think of climate action as an optional extra, tagged on to a ‘business as usual’ manifesto. They must stop ignoring the huge cost of inaction on climate change. Ireland will have to pay an annual bill of €275m in carbon fines and credits to make up for missing our 2020 emissions targets. These penalties, which will only increase in the years to come, could be used to retrofit our housing stock, build safe and segregated cycling infrastructure or build critical flood defences in places like Cork, Galway and Dublin.
The Green Party has set out a pathway which, if implemented immediately, will transform Ireland from climate laggard to climate leader.
Watch our press conference from the Rediscovery Centre in Ballymun.
Green Party Climate PolicyClick here to view the policy Click here to view the policy