Ireland has much to gain from ambitious climate change measures, says de Burca

The Green Party’s European Affairs spokesperson Deirdre de Burca this morning presented her Party Leader and Minister for the Environment John Gormley with a list of key points that she hopes governments can achieve in important international climate change negotiations this week. Minister Gormley will leave on Tuesday for a series of negotiations in Poznan, Poland that will create a successor to the Kyoto Treaty, which aims to limit and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

Speaking after a photocall at government buildings this morning to demonstrate that the countdown has begun for a new climate deal, Senator de Burca said: “Ireland has much to gain from an ambitious new deal on climate change. As well as taking measures to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change before it is too late, a commitment to a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 would act as a major spur for innovation and job creation.”

“Reaching agreement on a meaningful new climate deal is an economic as well as an environmental imperative. As the 2006 Stern Report demonstrated, the cost of doing nothing could be as high as 5 to 20% of global consumption whereas taking the required action now would cost a mere fraction of that, and pay for itself through the creation of millions of new green collar jobs,” Senator de Burca said. 

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Press Release by Deirdre