Thread by @attractaub

Confused about the #ClimateBill furore? Understandable! Will @EamonRyan amendment this evening address the concern arising from the amendments rushed in during the Seanad stage last week? No IMHO. Why? Respectfully I can only describe it as a red herring fix on a v dodgy powers.

The amendments Government made at the last minute in Seanad allow for the establishment of a parallel accounting system & rules devised at the discretion of Gov in regulations, which will govern the all important carbon budget which is at the heart of the framework in the bill.

U know this runs the risk here in Ireland of the rules being influenced by sectors who will argue for dodgy unscientifically proven rules & ways of calculating what they have done & have yet to do on GHGs,in ways which are NOT consistent with the UNFCCC approach. So Safeguards?🤔

Are there any Safeguards? No. I understand it was 'thought' the Gov when making & using these regulations in this bit of the bill were governed by another bit of the bill with an overarching obligation re the UNFCC, Paris and EU obligations.But it isn't & wouldn't fix this anyway

But they still now plans to provide a much lauded supposed fix by saying when doing that function on concocting their own rules they will now governed by that overall obligation. But it's a total red herring and doesn't fix the problem created here. So pls reconsider @EamonRyan

Why is it an error or redherring @EamonRyans ? That over-arching obligation you are going to put in place doesn't refer to the key UNFCC methods which need to govern Ireland's approach to the accounting rules - yep for real! So ..

It's like trying to get instructions from a book which has the instructions but reading the wrong chapter. So that "fix" won't work. It's a red herring. @EamonRyan says don't worry he will adhere to the UNFCC methods. But he won't bind himself or future Ministers to that in Law

The power in making these regulations is with the Government not with @EamonRyan either & there's no oversight.
So we have the risk of dodgy rules. So what?
The supposedly independent scientific informed Advisory Council will be bound by them in preparing the carbon budget 😱😰

The carbon budget is a key foundation for everything in this bill. So all the assurances we've had that our approach will be based on science have gone down the 🚽 with this precision blow to the bill. Contrary to what is being argued there was no need for this . There's no gap!

The EPA do our national rpts per UNFCC methodology & the EU rpts. It's bizarre to claim there's a gap & need 4 rules - to justify what are clearly concessions to abandon science & proper standards & allow for special rules for special sectors to concoct their own #cookthebooks

So when we are trying to figure out how adequate the policy decisions & progress planned on what's proposed from the framework delivered under the climate bill - we will end up comparing EPA apples with Climate Act wax & potentially some fake fruit oranges. More significantly -

This further compounds the Bill issue of it not having a firm view on cumulative carbon emissions budget against which we are trying to respond to. It's just a flexible notion in NCO (objective) of a neutral position of emissions balanced by what we manage to take out and yes ..

you got it - how those sums are calculated has just gone down the toilet in the #ClimateBill .. So here's my personal call :

In Dáil on #ClimateBill
Best case:
Reject Seanad amendments made by Gov. Go back to relying on science based rules & internat & EU standards.
Worst case:
Support @WhitmoreJen constructive amendments putting in UNFCC & EU methodology controls & Oireachtas oversight of the Regs &

Yes there is some good bits in the bill - but in the round if this was a car - I would think twice about getting into it. So get ready to insist on some safety checks and standards in the Dáil tonight before it gets an MOT/NCT

My final asmnt is that this bill now is a bit like me asking u to "Come on a journey with me".
"Where to?" u ask.
Me: "We will know when we get there by 2050, oh and by the way we won't be using conventional transport or maps, come let me show u what I've invented." #FixTheBill

I know there's been huge work done. But PLEASE lets not throw in the towel on what is a bill now sunk below the water line just so we can have a fake ticker tape parade believing we've got something that future generations, us & this planet & nature can RELY on ..
🌍💚#FixTheBill