Water and marine were among the lowest scoring categories in a report card on the Government’s environmental performance compiled for NGO Friends of the Earth.
The scoring for water and marine this year was five, similar to last year and on the low end of the table, the NGO says.
“The Government has just scraped a B- overall grade [1,2] in fulfilling their own promises to address climate change and protect our environment,” according to the academic experts who have carried out the independent assessment for Friends of the Earth.
“The commitments in their Programme for Government were not enough to achieve a truly sustainable society or meet our national and international climate targets,”they state.
“While we are relieved that Ireland has turned a corner away from our ‘climate laggard’ origins, this is just the start of a long and important journey for Irish society, and momentum will have to accelerate over successive governments to make Ireland a genuinely sustainable economy, “they said.
In this fourth and final “Report Card” for Friends of the Earth the experts also identified six areas where the next government would need to make additional commitments, from planning for fossil fuel phase out and sustainable agriculture to public engagement and the alignment of state agencies with climate obligations.
The overall assessment marked the Government out of 10 in nine subject areas.
The Government’s highest scores came in the categories of “Waste and Circular Economy” (8.5 - up from 7.5 last year), “Nature & Biodiversity (7.5 - up from 6.5 last year) and Buildings (7.5 - up marginally from 7 last year).
The lowest scoring categories were Water & Marine (5 - same as last year) and Agriculture & Forestry (5 - up from 4 last year).
The assessment was carried out by Dr Diarmuid Torney, Associate Professor, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, Dr Paul Deane, Senior Lecturer in Clean Energy Futures, MaREI, University College Cork, and Dr Cara Augustenborg, chair of the independent expert panel.
Reacting to the assessment, Oisín Coghlan, Friends of the Earth chief executive, said that “this fourth independent assessment shows that when a Government prioritises an issue in the Programme for Government, progress is possible”.
“Climate polluting emissions have begun to fall. But it also shows that the initial commitments in the Programme for Government are critical,” he said.
“That’s why Friends of the Earth will now be pushing all the political parties heading into the General Election to commit to the faster and fairer climate action we need to stay within the binding limits on pollution we have agreed to under both Irish and EU law,”Coghlan added.
