Sinn Féin spokesperson on Communications, Climate Action and the Environment David Cullinane TD has said that promises by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in respect of Carbon emission reduction targets must be matched by concrete, costed and deliverable measures.

He said far away targets like net zero emissions by 2050 and achieving annual emission reductions are meaningless unless there is a clear blueprint on how these can be achieved.

He said:

“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s record on climate action speaks for itself – they have failed to meet all climate action targets to date, as ambition has not been matched with concrete solutions.

“Setting far away dates as an end goal has failed before and will continue to fail without the political will to deliver. Promises are not worth the paper they are written on unless they are underpinned by costed proposals.

“Sinn Féin is engaging with key Departments on the modelling carried out to date which lays out how emission reductions can be achieved on a year-by-year basis.

“The reality is that previous Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael led governments have failed to substantially invest in public transport and in ambitious retrofit programmes. They have failed to move away from fossil fuel use quickly enough and have let big corporations of the hook.

“They have also failed to plan for a Just Transition, and we see this in the early closure of peat based power plants and with the treatment of workers at Bord Na Móna. 

“Sinn Féin wants to shift the focus away from abstract targets into the arena of realistic and deliverable measures, and we want to see the highest levels of Carbon reductions through costed and transparent solutions.

“The days of wish lists, vague commitments and distant targets must come to an end. Targets have to be achievable, deliverable, costed, legally binding and underpinned by proper investment.”