Climate change: ‘How can we feed the world while not damaging it?’

Ireland has two narratives – on GDP growth and employment it is world leading but on housing, health, climate and biodiversity it is 'a basket case', according to energy specialist Brian Ó Gallachóir. Photograph: Paulo Nunes dos Santos/The New York Times

Sadhbh O’Neill, senior climate adviser to Friends of the Earth: 'Many of the Government’s proposed measures are not grounded in reality' “But we should not be complacent. Ireland is dangerously off track to stay within the binding limits on emissions set on a cross-party basis, and many of the Government’s proposed measures are not grounded in reality.”

Emissions are still rising or not falling fast enough in some sectors, driven by lack of infrastructure; planning delays are affecting renewable energy projects, public transport and active travel; while growth is driving up energy demand that outpaces renewable energy deployment. There is a lack of incentives or sufficient skilled labour “and reliance on technofixes and efficiencies that don’t exist at scale”, says O’Neill.

CAP24 is ambitious but “only as good as its monitoring and implementation”, says Dr Clare Noone of the University of Galway. A more holistic Government approach would be welcome, with “just transition” at its heart, she says. Noone points to California, which introduced a law for accessible dwellings , which had social, economic and environmental benefits, and helped alleviate its housing crisis.

Effective climate action requires cutting emissions and adaptation, ie adjusting to present and likely future impacts while avoiding harm to people. The latter is about being resilient, says Dr Stephen Flood, of the Climate Change Advisory Council secretariat. “We will need to ensure that our cities and towns are designed to cope,” says Flood. “We need so called ‘sponge cities’ that can absorb the heavy rainfall by increasing the permeability of urban surfaces. ”

Ó Gallachóir welcomes attempts to bridge the gap between Ireland’s emissions ambition and current trends.

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