We’re climate change chancers – yet our ‘leaders’ haven’t got the vision to see that
THE inspirational deaf-blind activist Helen Keller said the only thing worse than being blind was having sight but no vision. Leadership requires something visionary – it is an impoverished facsimile of leadership which lacks that combination of forethought and imagination.
So where does Budget 2019 stand on vision? Paschal Donohoe described it as responsible and sensible. But he was neither prudent nor perceptive in ignoring the urgent need for climate action. He paid it lip service, as though name-checking alone would tell us the Government had it in its sights.
One large number after another went storming though the air as the Finance Minister delivered his speech. Those figures represented many things, mostly a steady-as-she-goes approach, but they fell down in a key policy area. There was no anti-pollution strategy for reducing carbon emissions – decarbonisation.
This failure was particularly noticeable because it follows a number of reports branding Ireland as climate change chancers. Only last June, Ireland was named the second worst EU state at tackling climate change by the Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe, an independent body.
Already, we face multi-million euro fines, possibly hundreds of millions, for missing climate and renewable energy targets. Leo Varadkar has used the term “laggard” about our performance and promised we would improve. Nine months on, we’re still slackers. Former President Mary Robinson, a climate change activist, has expressed herself “saddened” by this self-adopted label.
No alteration on carbon taxes in this unimaginative budget – nothing to incentivise changes to behaviour that has potentially devastating consequences for future generations.
Nothing in public policy formation to take account of global warming, although we saw the ruinous effects close to home last winter with storms and flooding.
Instead, Mr Donohoe tells us he welcomes an ESRI report “as a first step in better understanding the environmental, social and economic impact of carbon tax”.
Frankly, minister, we’re well past the first step stage. The ESRI, Citizens’ Assembly and Climate Change Advisory Council have all recommended a hike to carbon tax. Just last month, the Taoiseach said Budget 2019 would raise it to help us meet our obligations in dealing with climate change.
Why the change of heart? Higher carbon tax would impact primarily on petrol and diesel costs. Farmers, hauliers and other businesspeople wouldn’t like that. Could climate action have fallen beneath the wheels of a general election bandwagon on the horizon?
Mr Donohoe talked the talk about climate action. Reference was made to “new and innovative ways of embedding climate change in the budgetary process”. But he didn’t walk the walk – meaningful progress has been kicked into the long grass. What does this reveal about the Fine Gael-led Government’s priorities?
As clearly as if the minister was wearing a T-shirt with the slogan ‘Yah Book Sucks to Climate Change Whiners’ it conveys the following message: leave global warming for a future government to tackle.
Generations yet to be born will hold us accountable for yesterday’s inertia. The country is failing abysmally to meet our Paris Agreement commitments made in 2015. Emissions from the transport and agricultural sectors are rising, renewable energy targets are unmet.
In short, we are falling far, far behind our EU counterparts, judging by a special report from the UN’s International Panel on Climate Change this week. Such irresponsibility will not be consequence-free.
Meanwhile, the Government has tweaked benefits for electric cars and increased vehicle registration tax on diesel cars because of their emissions, as a sop to voices calling for climate action. Those moves are crumbs.
Did they think we wouldn’t notice their lack of climate change policies? The absence of any genuine desire to improve our performance? Judging by Budget 2019, any half-hearted aim to slow global warming falls a poor second behind more immediate ambitions about retention of power and re-election.
Not only are we set to miss our 2020 climate and renewable energy targets, we’re off-course for 2030, too. CAN (Europe) says we need to radically revise the National Mitigation Plan. Apparently, that’s “committed to reducing emissions and building a climate resilient low-carbon transport sector by 2050” – but 2050 is so far away, nobody in office appears to care.
Clearly, Ireland is not among Europe’s progressive states on climate action. Unambitious does not begin to describe our leaders on this crucial matter. CAN has urged peat burning to be taken out of electricity generation by next year and coal by 2025. Good luck with either of those targets.
Look at how our near neighbour, Scotland, with a similar climate to ourselves, is a world leader in renewables – last year more than two-thirds of Scottish energy needs were met without fossil fuels. We’re wedded to burning those bad boys.
We know what’s needed. Increase public transport, use electric or hybrid buses, discourage enormous SUVs, tax greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, offer higher grants to encourage wind and solar energy – wind, in particular is clean energy.
The polar ice caps are melting before our eyes while extreme weather conditions, from floods to wildfires, are ravaging various points of the globe and causing emergencies. Meanwhile, the Government’s master plan is to leave all that unpleasantness for future administrations to deal with. Did someone mention leadership?
Did they think we wouldn’t notice their lack of climate change policies?