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Pringle: Just transition means the average citizen will not ‘take the hit’ for climate action
- Updated: 19th May 2022
Independent TD for Donegal, Thomas Pringle said Government climate change initiatives have turned people against climate policies, as he called for a just transition that protects rural communities.
Addressing the Dáil on Wednesday, Deputy Pringle said: “If we care about the future of this planet then we need to transition to a zero-carbon economy immediately or as quickly as we can. The effects of climate change are already being felt across this planet and it won’t be long until we are fully feeling them here.”
However, he said, “We cannot do this at anyone’s expense.”
The deputy said: “The average citizen should not be taking the hit for this transition. Big corporations have been the biggest culprits in causing such climate devastation and they have a debt to pay to the planet and its people, especially from the Global South, who have felt the greatest effect.
“Unfortunately, the transition process in Ireland has been overwhelmingly negative,” he said, citing extraordinary sacrifices made by the likes of peat workers, over 1,000 of whom have lost their jobs and saw no Government support.
Deputy Pringle said: “And the Government wonders why people in rural Ireland are so against climate policies?”
The deputy was speaking during statements on just transition.
He said: “We need to ensure that all those who lose their jobs due to transition are offered support and replacement jobs immediately or have something put in place to make that happen. Until this is addressed, the transition process will only become synonymous with job loss and lower living standards and we don’t have time to delay this any further.”
The deputy said he supports Just Transition Alliance’s call to establish a National Just Transition Commission, which would help create replacement jobs and a more sustainable society.
Deputy Pringle said: “We need to protect rural communities in Donegal, and particularly in the midlands, who have experienced the greatest loss, by ensuring job retention and a high standard of living.”
He said climate change is quickly becoming associated with loss of jobs, but said he does not think that is what it means or should mean for people.
The deputy also supported Just Transition Alliance’s call for a strategy that ensures a maximum retention of key energy assets in public ownership and the call to officially designate energy as an ‘essential public good’.
Deputy Pringle said: “We cannot achieve our aims of a just transition without the public ownership of energy assets. Keeping this public will ensure greater power, as well as greater accountability, for a sustainable transition.”
Government must guarantee access to affordable energy as a core policy priority, he said.
Deputy Pringle said: “We can only ensure this by making sure that energy is treated as an essential public good, such as drinking water and education. We need to live up to the Just Transition pledge that we signed up to at COP 26. The time for talking is over, and we need action now.”
