Ireland set to badly miss climate change targets - Report
Ireland is set to badly miss climate change targets, according to a new report.
The Climate Change Advisory Council has warned the country is in an even worse position than it was last year.
The new report says Ireland is on track to miss many of its climate change targets - and that our emissions are increasing.
Fianna Fáil's Environment Spokesman Timmy Dooley says it is disappointing.
He said: "I think it is a damning indictment of the failure of this Government to address climate change and our Co2 emissions.
The results will have a devastating impact on our environment and indeed on our economy.
At the heart of the push to improve Ireland's climate results are financial incentives, according to the chair of the Advisory Council which produced the report.
Chairman John Fitzgerald is calling for the carbon tax to be increased by €10 per tonne in the budget.
It is aimed at targeting the big polluters and fossil fuel burners.
But it would have an impact on the consumer too.
It would add about 50c to a bail of briquettes, it would add €2 to a bag of coal. There would be some effect on petrol prices, you wouldn't really notice it.
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan says that can not be done in isolation, and there needs to be climate incentives.
He said:
We are not going to do it by saying 'We told you so'. We have to show that there is this better alternative, that tackling this issue is going to be good for us in a variety of different ways.
The report also recommends bringing the price of diesel in line with the price of petrol to discourage people from buying polluting cars
