The revised Climate Action Plan involves a welcome stepping up in the ambition to cut carbon emissions in the years ahead and reach the target of a 51 per cent reduction by 2030.
Its ambition is welcome but it is clear that much still remains to be decided and that the task of implementation will be immense. Setting the country on the correct path would be an important legacy for this Government.
The document is detailed in some areas, while also leaving some big calls to be made. As well as the climate imperative, there are clear political hurdles to be jumped. Cutting farming emissions is one of them – and here the details are vague and further study and discussions are signalled. Sooner or later decisions are needed here and the Government and the farm sector need to cooperate to develop a realistic plan.
But there are also huge challenges in transport, industry and energy. The ambition to have 80 per cent of energy produced by renewables by 2030 is welcome, and is a bedrock of the whole plan. To work, Ireland’s transition relies on the use of clean electricity. Achieving it will require major investment, planning reform and co-operation between the public and private sectors.
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Meanwhile the targets also have significant implications for households. A massive retrofitting programme is planned. As well as informing homeowners about this, State supports will be needed to have any chance of meeting the target of retrofitting 500,000 homes by 2030. Households will also be asked to cut their car journeys – easier for some than others – and to transition to electric vehicles.
The action plan estimates that investment of €125 billion will be needed up to 2030 to achieve the transition – much of it in transport, retrofitting and energy sector investment. It is a massive figure and will involve spending by households and businesses, as well as the State. But the impact on the exchequer will be substantial and it is clear that detailed work will be needed to integrate this with existing investment plans and work out how to fund it.
As we know, of course, the costs of inaction globally are much greater. The imperative to act, and act decisively, is clear. This needs to be kept in mind as the inevitable debate rages about how the State achieves its targets. The latest document sets out ranges of emissions cuts for each sector – to be narrowed down to legal targets. In reality, aiming for higher figures in the target range is likely to be the only way to reach the overall goal given that, inevitably, there will be blockages and delays.
Achieving a wide consensus on this is a big political challenge for the Government and also requires the Opposition parties to play a constructive role.