Delivering urgency in Ireland’s response to the climate crisis roundtable discussion
SSE Renewables hosted a virtual round table discussion, engaging experts from across the energy sector, including within government, industry, and NGOs, to discern how the urgency evident in Ireland’s reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic can be instilled in its response to the climate crisis. To what extent will the ambitious Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act and impending Climate Action Plan 2021 accelerate Ireland’s response to the climate crisis? Brian Leddin The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act will significantly accelerate ambition. It is important to note that it is not the first piece of climate legislation that we have had, and I would commend my colleague on the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action, and former Environment Minister, Richard Bruton TD who kickstarted much of the good work in the last administration. We now have a very significant Climate Act, which is framework legislation that will guide the carbon budget process, alongside the annually revisable climate action plans. It remains to be seen how it will play out, but I think that there are a lot of safeguards in there, particularly the annually revisable climate action plans that will ensure that we are on track to
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meet the 2030 goal, as well as the 2050 goal. Maria Ryan SSE Renewables welcomes the Climate Act. What we now need is action, urgency, and resources in order to accelerate Ireland’s response to climate change. The carbon budgets must be ambitious. We cannot backload reductions to the end of the decade without the risk of missing our targets. The deployment of offshore wind offers a proven and effective way to accelerate our response to the climate crisis. We intend to deploy our first offshore windfarm at Arklow Bank by the middle of the decade. In the context of declining capacity in the Irish market, it makes even more sense to attempt to frontload the offshore capacity that is there. Both the Tánaiste and the Environment Minister have referenced offshore wind as being a major part of the solution, given we have some of the best offshore resources in the world. In relation to climate action plans, it is great that they will be annually revised. When we look back to the Climate Action Plan 2019, it included an interim
target of 1GW of offshore by 2025 which seems to have been quietly abandoned. We must ensure that the climate action plans are tangible, very clear and focused on driving the delivery of interim targets. Seán Kelly I thank Brian for referencing the work of my colleague, Richard Bruton, with whom I undertook a lot of work in relation to the preparing the groundwork for the legislation. Now, with the support of the Greens in government, and with the agreed action plan, we will see rapid progress. This must embrace all sectors, not just renewable energy. It must include transport, energy, industry, and agriculture. There is no such thing as a free pass. Everyone has an obligation, and everyone has an opportunity. I would like to see that incorporated in the Government’s Climate Action Plan. The carbon budgets will be very important in putting money behind projects and encouraging investment. Offshore wind will have a major part to play but we must also explore the opportunity in relation to wave and tidal.
