Money raised through carbon tax increases is to be ring-fenced for environmental spending and a just transition away from fossil fuels.
The Taoiseach will make the pledge in a speech to the UN Climate Summit in New York later today.
The summit comes after people around the world joined major demonstrations calling for increased action on climate change last week.
The summit will see world leaders outlining what they're doing to combat the crisis.
The Minister for Climate Action and the Environment Richard Bruton is also in New York for the Summit.
He said the carbon tax increases are essential to meet Ireland’s climate obligations – and avoid heavy fines in the future.
“One tonne of carbon that we could abate today and sustain over the next number of years to 2050 is worth €4,500 in terms of penalty if you want to put it in very crude terms,” he said.
“So there is a real merit in us taking initiatives in the here and now to abate and correct some of those flaws in what we are doing.”
UN headquarters in New York, 21-09-2019. Image: Vanessa Carvalho/ZUMA WireHe said some of the extra money will be used to ensure a just transition for those hit hardest by the increased taxes.
“We are looking at how do you protect people who are most exposed,” he said.
“We have in very immediate terms, people involved in peat or coal and they are significantly exposed – so this fund will be about making sure that there is a fair and just transition for them
“But also there are people that are exposed to the rising cost of fuel.”
He said the funds will also be invested in empowering environmental changes in communities around the country.
“That is really the way to make sure that carbon pricing is seen as a tool to be a win/win for our community,” he said.
The United Nations. #ClimateEmergency #EcologicalEmergency pic.twitter.com/G8UiQOllFP
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) September 21, 2019
The all-party Oireachtas committee has said the Government must commit to raising carbon taxes from €20 a tonne to €80 a tonne by 2030.
It will mean increases in the price of fuel, briquettes and coal among other things.
Ireland’s UN Youth Delegate Jack O'Connor said a just transition will ensure that people around the country support the efforts to combat the climate crisis.
“In some areas, people are not going to care about trees if they can’t put food on the table,” he said.
“So because of that it is going to be very interesting to see how best we bring along everybody.
“And I mean from the bottom up; we need to bring everyone involved and we have to understand their backgrounds and their wants and needs as well.”
With @KZapponeTD as a key listener to activists Greta Thunberg, Bruno Rodriguez, Wanjuhi Njoroge and Komal Karishma Kumar #ClimateSummit pic.twitter.com/1XHJeuvv8R
— Richard Bruton (@RichardbrutonTD) September 21, 2019
The summit gets underway as a new report warns that countries round the world will need to triple their emissions targets – at the very least – to meet the goals of the Pairs agreement.
The report, backed by major climate bodies and coordinated by the World Meteorological Organisation, fins that greenhouse gas emission must be cut by between three and five times their current output.
It finds that current plans will lead to rise in global temperatures of between 2.9C and 3.4C by 2100, bringing catastrophic changes all over the world.
It finds that it is still possible to close the gap and prevent the worst disasters – but only if Governments urgently increase their climate commitments and actions.
