Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 25 Feb 1997

Vol. 475 No. 4

Written Answers. - Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

Eoin Ryan

Question:

164 Mr. E. Ryan asked the Minister for the Environment if he will attend the EU Environment Council meeting on 3 and 4 March 1997; if so, his views on the position the EU should take on the Climate Change Convention, UNFCCC; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5083/97]

Trevor Sargent

Question:

173 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for the Environment if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the insurance industry has recorded a forty-fold rise in claims arising from hurricanes and other extreme weather over the past 25 years; and if he will review the Government's policy to allow carbon dioxide emissions to grow rather than be cut as is required if the greenhouse effect is to be reversed in view of this rise in claims. [5121/97]

Trevor Sargent

Question:

177 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for the Environment the involvement, if any, the Government had in the ad hoc group on the Berlin Mandate which met from 9 to 13 December 1996; if so, the conclusions reached; the responsibility, if any, Ireland unilaterally and multilaterally will take to cut back on emissions of greenhouse gases in view of the fact that scientists are saying that the world needs to cut emissions by 50 per cent to 70 per cent just to stabilise the level of these gases in the atmosphere. [5125/97]

Minister for the Environment (Mr. Howlin)

I propose to answer Questions Nos. 164, 173 and 177 together.

Ireland was represented at the meeting of the ad hoc group on the Berlin Mandate, AGBM, from 9-13 December 1996 and in its capacity as Presidency undertook co-ordination and presentation of the EU position at the meeting, including the presentation of comprehensive elements for the terms of a Protocol to the UN framework convention on climate change. The main outcome of the meeting was a request to the chairman to prepare a framework compilation incorporating proposals from parties for the elements of a Protocol or other legal instrument for discussion at the next AGBM meeting on 3-7 March 1997.

Current EU policy is to stabilise the level of carbon dioxide emissions at their 1990 level by the year 2000 in the Union as a whole. Within this policy, which acknowledges the need of some member states for ongoing growth in energy demand in line with economic development requirements, Ireland is committed to limiting the growth in its CO 2 emissions to 20 per cent over their 1990 level by the year 2000.

The position of the EU regarding the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the post-2000 period will be discussed at the Environment Council on 3-4 March which I will attend. The EU, however, has already indicated that developed countries should individually or jointly commit to quantified objectives to achieve significant overall reductions in greenhouse gas emissions after the year 2000 below 1990 levels, within specified timeframes such as 2005, 2010 and 2020. The Environment Council on 3-4 March will consider further the EU and member state positions, including Ireland's with a view to specifying the post-2000 reduction objectives to be proposed by the EU in the negotiations under the Berlin Mandate.

I am aware of the concerns of the international insurance industry about the effects of, and claims arising from, severe climate events. The second assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change has stated that the international insurance industry currently is under stress from a series of billion dollar storms since 1987, resulting in dramatic increases in losses, reduced availability of insurance and higher costs. Some in the insurance industry perceive a current trend towards increased frequency and severity of extreme climate events. The second assessment report concluded that examination of the meteorological data fails to support this perception in the context of a long-term change, although a shift within the limits of natural variability may have occurred. Higher losses strongly reflect increases in infrastructure and economic worth in vulnerable areas, as well as a possible shift in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events.