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Regina Doherty comparing bike lanes to Berlin Wall a symptom of deeper divisions on climate

New research highlights fundamental conflicts between Ireland’s planned industrial development and climate targets

Taoiseach Simon Harris TD with newly elected MEP Regina Doherty: her comparison of bike lanes in Dublin to the Berlin Wall, which prompted Eamon Ryan to seek a meeting with his Coalition partners, are a symptom of broader divisions. Photograph: Gareth Chaney/PA Wire

Aideen O’Dochartaigh
Tue Jun 18 2024 - 06:00

The local and European election campaign was marked by rising tensions over environmental issues between the three governing parties. Comments such as newly elected MEP Regina Doherty’s comparison of bike lanes in Dublin to the Berlin Wall, which prompted Eamon Ryan to seek a meeting with his Coalition partners, are a symptom of broader divisions.

These comments are nothing new. Rows have been brewing for months on issues which pit environmental concerns against economic ones. In March, Eamon Ryan and Simon Coveney clashed over Ryan’s assertion that planning permission for data centres be refused unless they generate their own renewable energy. Earlier this year, Fianna Fáil criticised the Green Party’s support of the current passenger cap in Dublin Airport. Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher has asserted that a “Green veto” is blocking major infrastructure projects and driving investors away from Ireland.

A new research reported I co-authored with Anna Pringle from DCU school of communications, entitled Carbon Budgets: Opportunities and Challenges for Irish Business, highlights fundamental conflicts between Ireland’s planned industrial development and climate targets, and reveals the lack of honest conversation between government and business on how to tackle them. We interviewed experts from business, policy and State agencies about the implications of climate policy, particularly carbon budgets, for Irish business. The carbon budgets, established in 2022 following the 2021 Climate Act, place limits on the level of greenhouse gas emissions from each sector, including energy, agriculture and transport, between now and 2030.

We are already racing through these carbon budgets. The Climate Change Advisory Council recently reported that by the end of 2022 all sectors had already used at least 46.6 per cent of their 2021-2025 budget. The increasingly evident impacts of climate change have enormous economic implications. Storm Babet caused an estimated €150-€200 million in damages to homes, businesses and infrastructure in Midleton and east Cork last year.

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In the last 10 years, impressive efficiency reductions at farm level – reducing the emissions per unit of product – have been eaten up by export growth, and overall emissions of the sector have increased

Amid multiple operational and systemic challenges highlighted by our interviewees, a standout issue was the lack of policy coherence and a holistic vision for industrial development in Ireland. People pointed to ambitious growth targets in emissions-intensive industries such as agriculture, aviation and construction, alongside our ambitious climate targets, stating baldly that “the numbers don’t add up”.

They noted conflicting goals in key government policies. For example, the agri-food strategy Food Vision 2030, includes an export growth target of 50 per cent by 2030, but under the carbon budgets the sector must reduce emissions by 25 per cent by 2030. In the last 10 years, impressive efficiency reductions at farm level – reducing the emissions per unit of product – have been eaten up by export growth, and overall emissions of the sector have increased.

Similarly, the Housing for All strategy sets a target of 33,000 homes annually until 2030, but per the carbon budgets the Industry sector, which incorporates cement manufacture, must reduce emissions by 35 per cent by 2030. Decarbonisation in this and other heavy industry sectors is dependent on new technology developing at an unprecedented pace and scale.

There have been improvements in policy coherence, notably in the 2024 Climate Action Plan, which is focused on high-impact, often cross-departmental actions, and the publication of much-needed new strategies and policies on hydrogen and green procurement. But the growing tensions between the Government parties hint at the deep policy conflicts under the surface. The next government must recognise these conflicts and address them with a more cohesive vision for industrial development within climate limits.

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This is not solely the responsibility of the Government. Businesses are the engine of economic development, and have huge power both to reduce Ireland’s emissions and to influence the discourse. In March, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary was critical of Eamon Ryan for thwarting the company’s growth plans by objecting to plans to lift the Dublin Airport passenger cap.

More quietly, while participants in our study recognised challenges at policy level, they were less inclined to consider the implications of growth targets in their own business. Tackling climate change and meeting the national targets requires new business models which focus more on long-term sustainability, with a clear eye on ecological limits, rather than short-term economic targets.

Despite its increasingly glaring impacts, climate change is still more likely to be viewed by businesses as a risk to be managed or one more reporting obligation rather than the existential threat it presents. It is positive that many businesses have included climate action in strategies, but there is a danger of losing sight of the reality that this is a game-changing problem.

Interviewing both business and policymakers, our research found that businesses typically highlighted what policymakers could do for climate action, while policymakers talked about what business could do. This is not surprising; it is easier to direct action outwards. To address climate change we need collective, co-ordinated responsibility, involving every business, every government and every individual.

Dr Aideen O’Dochartaigh is an assistant professor in the DCU Business School

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