Cuts in emissions and fine particulate matter from transport in Ireland will have to be larger than expected as the Irish government has moved to protect farming at EU-level negotiations. The deeper cuts will also apply to industrial and residential sources.
The Sunday Times reported yesterday that the government secured a lowered ammonia-reduction target of just 5%, down from the original target cut of 10% by 2030. The newspaper said that in return the government agreed to steeper cuts in sulphur dioxide (SO2) and fine particulate matter, and said this was a “neutral” swap.
The change was reported to have been secured at a meeting of ministers of EU member states last week in advance of negotiations with MEPs. The government were looking to treat farming as a “special case” since before the recent United Nations conference on climate change in Paris.
The Times said that because of agricultural expansion, “Ireland is already on track to fall far short of its 2020 EU climate target, risking prosecution and financial penalties.”
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READ MORE: Pollution deal favours farmers over factories
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Cyclist.ie pointed this out weeks ago to its members that agri-food would not be sacrificed and that transport and energy generation would have to do the heavy-lifting on emissions’ mitigation.
Not much sign that government or the Oireachtas understand the implications of this decision. Fines are looming. Paid for by you and me and a further degradation of already crippled public services.
The farming vote matters in the run-up to an election!
It might change when people realise what the subvention given to agi-business is going to cost them
In this country we have our ‘sacred cows’ of agri-food that are untouchable from a climate-change mitigation aspect.
And we though that India was the only place with such sacred beasts!