Sinn Féin spokesperson on Climate Justice, Senator Lynn Boylan, criticised the government’s plan to sneak through the ratification of the CETA trade agreement.

Speaking today at Leinster House, Senator Boylan said:

“Voting to ratify CETA would be massively damaging to any hopes of tackling the climate crisis in a fair way.

“Just 100 companies are responsible for 71% percent of emissions. Governments need to be challenging the power of corporations in order to fight the climate crisis. This trade deal would hinder that. 

“CETA would let companies sue the government – and Irish taxpayers – for billions if we brought in regulations to deal with all the environmental problems we face.

“The consequence is that the burden of tackling climate change lands on ordinary people while corporations go on polluting as they please. This trade agreement makes a mockery of a Just Transition and a Green New Deal.

“It also threatens the Government’s promise to ban fracked gas imports and puts in doubt the enactment of the climate emergency bill. 

“This trade agreement is from another era. It was written before the Paris Climate Agreement and doesn’t reflect the scale of the climate crisis. There can be no place for private investor courts.”