The Environmental Pillar, an advocacy coalition of 28 national environmental charities, are calling Budget 2017 a missed opportunity to prepare our economy for the impact of climate change and protect our environment.
Minister Michael Noonan emphasised the need for a prudent budget to avoid the failures of the past but the budget cannot be considered prudent if it is not fair for future generations.
Ireland is one of only two European countries who are on course to miss their 2020 emissions targets.
The subsidies that were announced to provide relief for efficient combined heat and power stations are positive but we need to harness the power of every person to reduce energy and every building to produce it.
To meet the scale of the current challenge we need incentives for homeowners, farmers and communities to become renewable energy producers themselves.
Also to deal effectively with climate change we need to strongly incentivise reductions in energy use in our homes and work places.
We also need to change behaviour. Budget 2017 has missed a great opportunity to embrace Green Taxes.
- No incentives to reduce consumption, waste or pollution.
- No mandatory feed-in tariffs for renewable energy producers: homeowners, farmers or communities.
