Labour leader Ivana Bacik has called for “more urgency” in Ireland’s national response to the climate emergency.
Bacik was speaking after a report by independent experts said that the Government “must do more to deliver on its Programme for Government climate commitments.”
The Dublin Bay South TD said “the Government’s climate performance is still not good enough. We need to see much more ambitious targets and a much greater sense of urgency if we are to avert the worst impacts of the climate emergency.”
“The Government needs to ensure a Just Transition to support communities who will have to do the most to facilitate the change we need. It must also treat the sectoral emissions targets and carbon budgets with the seriousness needed. There is simply no time to delay.”
The report, commissioned by Friends of the Earth, gave the Government a C+ on their handling of climate issues.
“We see from the report of these experts, who were commissioned by Friends of the Earth, that there has been a decline in progress on transport commitments this year, which is particularly concerning. A lack of spending on active transport infrastructure and a rebound of greenhouse gas emissions in this sector have been identified as underlying this shortcoming. We know that investment in public transport is of the utmost importance,” Bacik said.
“Courage and more drastic measures are needed to assist people in making the shift to less harmful means of transport,” she stated.
Bacik said that her party has proposed the introduction of a ‘climate ticket’ for public transport.
“This initiative would grant people unlimited public transport, across modes, for just €9 per month. We estimate that the carbon emissions savings of such a policy would be equivalent to removing 23,000 cars off our roads.”
“In tandem with greater provision of public transport in areas which are currently underserviced, the potential of this policy is even greater. It’s time this Government was brave enough to take radical steps towards a cleaner future.”
Bacik’s calls for a heavily subsidised public transport scheme is similar to fellow Opposition TD Bríd Smith, who called for “free and frequent transport” as a way for Ireland to combat the climate emergency.
“The Labour Party is calling on Government to take urgent action on climate change. A climate ticket would be a major step in the right direction.”
“We need to act now, or we will face the consequences for generations to come. We can no longer afford to delay action.”
The Dáil passed a motion that declared a climate emergency in May 2019 as a result of a cross-party motion, making Ireland the 2nd nation in the world to declare a climate emergency.