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TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has said he would rather increase funding to tackle climate change than have to pay hefty EU fines in the future.
Ireland is facing a fine of €75 million each year if 16% of its energy doesn’t come from renewable-energy sources by 2020, such as solar panels and wind turbines.
EU member states have committed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by 2030.
Currently, Ireland is one of four member states that are predicted to miss their emissions target.
Varadkar said there will be a “big focus” on climate change by his government this year, and over the next ten years “to enable us to meet our commitments which we are not meeting at the moment”.
He said:
In fact from 2020 onwards we’re heading into some pretty major fines for not meeting our obligations. I would rather spend money now on meeting our commitments than on fines from 2020 onwards.
In an interview with TheJournal.ie, Environment Minister Denis Naughten admitted that the Ireland’s progress on the 2020 emissions targets has been disappointing.
Attending a climate summit in Paris last year, Naughten reaffirmed Ireland’s commitment to the global objectives set down by the Paris Agreement to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions.
“I am going to get us as close as possible to the target,” he told TheJournal.ie, stating that despite missing the 20% reduction for 2020, he hopes to hit the 30% reduction mark in 2030.
The bigger issue for the minister is the renewable energy targets, said Naughten.
The current trajectory puts Ireland at 13% so far, but if we fail to hit these targets, the country face annualised fines from the European Union, explained the minister.
So how is Ireland going to meet the targets?
The new Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme will help Ireland with its targets, according to the minister.
The government also have plans to introduce more incentives for drivers to buy electric cars, with new grants being launched this week, and plans to cut out toll payments for those that have electric cars.
Such moves aim to increase the number of electric vehicles by 1,200.
Budget 2018 also pledged to support the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland with the delivery of its commitments.
I suspect Johnson may emerge from his vaccine lap ahead, scornfully glancing at the EU, by forcing an early election while branding Labour a bunch of chickens if they initially resist – and then forging ahead with the Tory majority extended from 80 to 100 or so.
And then if there’s a hot Summer of protest up North he’ll play the great statesman by calling for the Northern Ireland protocol to be scrapped or unilaterally scrapping it, in an effort to strategically weaken Ireland’s relationship with the EU, while contently watching whether there’ll be a land border as a result.
I think we might well be in for a few more laughs with this joker.
@Mick Tobin: Am no fan of the yanks but we might need them to put the pressure on the UK re a trade deal if you’re right.
I should perhaps add that Johnson might also want to consider renaming his party the ENP – the English National Party.
@Mick Tobin: it’s unreal how quite Labour are. They really need to kick in with something solid soon.
@Paul Furey: They can’t, there’s absolutely b***** all they can do at the moment. They tried moving to the hard left under Corbyn – seemingly an effort to move away from Blair which already started with Ed Miliband, and that obviously didn’t work.
Now they’re back at the centre and all they can do is wait until the corona crisis is over, and it’s back to the everyday realities including those of Brexit. Then perhaps they have a shot at coming up with a few viable alternatives (such as joining the customs union).
I think for one they need another leader, perhaps Manchester mayor Andy Burnham. In any case I’m afraid it’ll be a long time before they have a serious chance at winning an election.
@Mick Tobin: You are hypothesising my worst fears. He is a deplorable joke of a man with zero integrity, morals. His political and career ambitions trumps anything like an international peace treaty such as the GFA. There will be terrible consequences for the UK but if the terds amplify scenes like week he could have his excuse.
@Gary Garden: In a sense Johnson is simply a representative of the usual confrontational divide-and-conquer style of British politics – albeit a more serious case. But Brexit has made it spill over onto the international stage, with Ireland the first scapegoat to be encountered there.
@Mick Tobin: you had me at ‘joker’… spoiled it with this prejudiced postscript. Shame.
@Paul Furey:
Since Corbyn was shafted there is no opposition, Starmer is Tory light, just like Blair.
Same happened here with Labour becoming FG Light.
No opposition in the UK and only SF as opposition here with PBP, SD and a few others.
Awful Shame everyone has shifted to the Right
@Mick Tobin: an nationalist leader, Ireland would benefit greatly from one
For a small Irish newspaper to infer that the British prime minister is some sort of circus character is a bit rich considering what you have for a government in Ireland.
@Michael Maher: the guardian is not Irish, it started in Manchester & it has become a laughable shadow of its former self.
@Richard Cronin: The Journal took up on it
@Michael Maher: this is journal most of the articles on here are copy & paste jobs from associated press (American). That don’t make it irish, it makes journal a poor news site that is why most people come on here for the comments.
@Richard Cronin: 100%
He is certainly no mug.
@Scott Coulter: he is actually. He’s out of his depth. He wanted the lead role in his school, he got and hadn’t a clue what to do. He wanted the
He is Penny wise and Pound……
A very good read. Unfortunately we have a government who is not performing like Johnson but by their actions, have inadvertently become clowns. Everything they touch at the moment is falling apart. These clowns are not giving us anything to laugh at and the audience are far from happy.
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