Sinn Féin spokesperson on Agriculture Matt Carthy TD has said that his party will propose amendments to the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2021 in order to ensure that protections are in place for rural communities and vulnerable workers and families.

He was speaking as the bill moved from Second to Committee Stage in Dáil.

Teachta Carthy said:

“The climate crisis is real and a legal framework to address it is absolutely needed.

“Meeting these objectives will require buy-in from all sectors of society. Climate action must mean more than increased taxes and charges and job losses in real terms for real people.

“The approach of government to date has left the burden of climate action on rural communities, ordinary workers, families and farmers. There is a need to reshift the focus onto the corporate polluters that caused the climate crisis.

“Sinn Féin will bring forward amendments aimed at ensuring that all carbon budgets are accompanied by social, economic, and rural impact assessments and an obligation on government to take action to mitigate any negative consequences.

“In order to protect farmers, we will seek agreement that will ensure that no future measure adopted at a domestic level actually results in a net increase in global emissions. There is no point in reducing production of sustainable Irish food if the alternative leads to the importation of less sustainable products.

“There is a serious lack of trust that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael or the Green Party will deliver for either the environment or rural communities.  

“We need to move beyond the rhetoric of a Just Transition to spelling out what that means in real terms. That will be the objective of Sinn Féin amendments to this bill.  

“I hope that government and other parties will engage with us constructively in this regard.”