According to Ivana Bacik, centre-left parties need to work together on environmental problems after the election to put pressure on the next administration to take “ambitious and radical” climate change policies, reports Breaking News.
The head of the Labour Party voiced worry that Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil, and Fine Gael had abandoned plans to reduce emissions because they believe that doing so may hurt their chances of winning elections, especially in rural and farming areas.
According to Ms. Bacik, one of Labour’s initial strategies following the election would be to reach out to the Green Party and other like-minded TDs in order to create a “critical mass” inside the Dáil that supports more aggressive climate action measures, reports Breaking News.
Ms. Bacik, who introduced her party’s election proposals on climate and the environment, stated that Ireland was on track to fall short of its 2030 carbon emission reduction goal, which would result in billions of euros in fines from the EU.
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Speaking to reporters Tuesday along Dublin’s Grand Canal, the Labour leader emphasised the need of ensuring a “just transition” away from fossil fuels and including communities in the net-zero journey, reports Breaking News.
“We are conscious and concerned that the three biggest parties cannot be trusted to deliver the necessary urgent and ambitious actions,” she said, reports Breaking News.
“And certainly in the (RTÉ) debate last night we were not encouraged by what we heard from other leaders. We need to see a really sustained programme of investment in measures to tackle climate change and that is why we are proposing a really significant package – €16 billion over five years, to include money to fund what we have described as a national retrofit revolution, €2.5 billion from the Apple [tax] windfall to fund an area-based roll-out of retrofitting,” reports Breaking News.
“People in communities, households and families want to do more on climate [but] they are not being supported sufficiently, and that is why we are looking for a just transition that supports lower energy bills, but crucially also to reduce emissions and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels,” she added, reports Breaking News.
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