The Minister for the Environment John Gormley faced strong opposition criticism today for not having climate change legislation ready in time for the key UN Conference in Copenhagen next month.
Mr Gormley appeared before the Oireachtas Committee on Climate Change and Energy Security where he briefed committee members on the position of the EU and of the Irish Government in the run-up to the conference.
However, the Minister became embroiled critical exchanges with Labour energy spokeswoman Liz McManus and her Fine Gael counterpart Simon Coveney when he disclosed that he hoped to have a “scoping document” for climate change legislation prepared for the conference which begins on December 7th.
Last month, the committee published a report on climate change legislation which Ms McManus said could actually supply a Heads of Bill for legislation.
“I am very disappointed in your response in relation to climate change law,” she said. Both she and Mr Coveney inferred that the Government had not taken its report on board.
Mr Gormley responded that the report could not form a Heads of Bill but was rather an explanatory memorandum (that could not it itself form the basis for legislation).
Ms McManus conceded this point but added that this issue was above politics. “At the very least you should have send the explanatory memo to the Attorney General,” she said.
“Other countries have gone way beyond us in legislation, even countries like the United States. It’s as if we have done nothing beyond nice words. We are way beyond a scoping document,” she contended.
The Minister said that he had acknowledged the work of the committee but the legislation was complex and comprehensive and needed buy-in from many other Government departments.
He also challenged Ms McManus’s assertion that Ireland was lagging behind the United States on the climate change issue. “It’s not true to say that US is ahead of us. We have signed up to the Kyoto Protocol. To come out with a statement to say we are behind the US is not the case.”
Mr Coveney said that the Climate Change Bill was on the list of promised legislation. “This does not inspire confidence,” he said.
“I cannot magic a piece of legislation,” Mr Gormley replied.
Committee chairman, the Fine Gael deputy Sean Barrett said that committees needed to be more than talking shops and it was important that they get support to allow them play a real role in developing legislation.
Mr Gormley said that there was “a dramatic difference between explanatory memo and robust legislation.”
During the hearing Mr Gormley also disclosed that Ireland could end up paying €180 million per annum in mitigation measures by 2020, if an agreement is reached in Copenhagen and the higher targets of 30 per cent of emissions target become reality.
He also said that it was likely that US President Barack Obama would be attending the summit, though he would be travelling to Copenhagen to pick up the Nobel Peace Prize.
Mr Gormley said this was understandable as the political reality in the US was that the Democrats were split on the issue of climate change.
In his opening submission to the committee the Minister expressed pessimism about a strong outcome from the Copenhagen conference.
“At best, we are now looking at the possibility of a politically-binding agreement rather than a legally-binding treaty.
“That is disappointing, and in my view, flies in the face of the fact that we are all to quickly approaching a point where the impact of climate change will become significantly more challenging and more costly to address.