Why are FF and FG accused of backsliding on climate?

Three days before the General Election was called Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman pushed hard at a Cabinet meeting to get Government agreement on spending for the Climate, Nature and Infrastructure Fund.

But his Coalition partners Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael refused to be tied into expenditure commitments for the €3.15bn pool of money, set aside from windfall corporate taxes, to decarbonise the economy.

Also at the Cabinet table was the Greens’ Catherine Martin who recalled: "Our colleagues unfortunately showed their true colours at that Cabinet meeting...The next day it was 19 degrees in Dublin in November. That is what is coming up on the doors."

Roderic O’Gorman said: "I think Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael recognise we have to do something, but they aren’t prepared to stump up the financial support to help people to help those families."

As the election gets closer the gap between the two big Coalition parties and the Greens is getting wider on climate.

While the outgoing Government has implemented significant reforms the Green Party argues its presence at the Cabinet table made them happen.

The main accusation from the Greens is that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are backsliding on climate at a critical time.

That is rejected outright by the two larger parties.

A spokesperson for Fine Gael said the party has been acting on climate "long before the Greens were in Government."

The spokesperson added that then Climate Minister Richard Bruton of Fine Gael developed the "first ever whole of Government Climate Action Plan in 2019."

A Fianna Fáil spokesperson said: "We completely reject that climate is not 'front and centre’ for our party and we are not prepared to stump up...There is no evidence to support these assertions."

The party says the Climate, Nature and Infrastructure Fund was established by a Fianna Fáil Minister when Michael McGrath held the Finance portfolio.

Cutting emissions

Aside from political tensions, the biggest issue is that Ireland is committed to halving emissions by 2030.

The Environmental Protection Agency said Ireland is on target to reduce emissions by 29% by the end of the decade.

The next commitments are cutting emissions by 90% by 2040 and reaching net zero by 2050.

Oisín Coughlan, CEO of Friends of the Earth, said: "The climate question for all parties and candidates is will they commit to uphold the 2021 climate law, passed by 129-10 votes by the Dáil, and to doing everything in their power to reduce emissions in line with the binding pollution limits to 2030 adopted by the Dáil on a cross-party basis."

Aside from the damage to the environment, missing the 2030 target means Ireland will face a massive €8bn EU fine.

Mr Coughlan said that so far in the election campaign there are "stronger policies on renewables and retrofitting, which is very welcome, but not enough on transport and agriculture, which account for almost 60% of our polluting emissions."

He added: "We need to see very concrete plans to end our dependence on fossil fuel cars and we need a new deal for family farmers that supports them to feed Ireland while reducing pollution."

Data centres

One example of where parties across the Oireachtas differ on climate is the controversial topic of data centres which used a massive 21% of Ireland’s electricity.

There are significant gaps between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and other parties, on these high energy consumers.

In Government the Green Party took a strong line on the developments, which frequently caused tensions with other Cabinet members.

Fianna Fáil, in its manifesto, says it wants to increase investment in infrastructure to facilitate "increased data centres" and more incentives for them to use energy efficient technologies.

Fine Gael wants an energy plan for 2030 which ensures the centres are aligned with decarbonisation targets.

Sinn Féin says they are a crucial part of digital life but the rate at which they are driving up electricity demand is "unsustainable".

The Social Democrats says Ireland risks missing climate targets in large part due to the centres and their massive energy consumption and wants a moratorium on new developments.

The Labour Party wants a transparent register of all data centres and large energy users to track their energy and water use.

People Before Profit-Solidarity warns electricity consumption by the centres could reach 30% by 2030 and says it would ban new developments.

After the election

There are many new ideas which recur across political parties on climate in manifestos.

Most call for reorientating grants towards the less well off, widening the use of public transport, phasing out fossil fuels and making alternatives more attractive.

The future direction on climate will be decided by the outcome of the election on 29 November and subsequent negotiations on Government formation.

Those talks were where the Green Party says it nailed down many of their objectives after the 2020 General Election.

But don’t expect anything to happen quickly – last time, those crucial discussions took four months to conclude.