Green Party leader Eamon Ryan says the costs of switching to our own power supply, such as wind, could be viewed as a big cost or a competitive advantage.
He says Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are "up for being ambitious around climate action to go for at least a 7% reduction in emissions".
It comes as the three parties are set to begin formal negotiations on a programme for government this Thursday.
The Greens have previously insisted a 7% carbon emissions reduction target is a red line for the party in the negotiations.
It is far from guaranteed that they will ultimately enter government, with several TDs warning if they do not like what is on the table they will walk away.
But Mr Ryan told The Hard Shoulder there are options here.
"We did get clarification at the weekend on Sunday that actually yeah, they are up for being ambitious around climate action to go for at least a 7% reduction in emissions".
"And recognising that this actually could be good for, will be good for, has to be good for our country - all of our country - has to be good for rural Ireland as well as urban Ireland".
"That broad approach is very helpful, that we're going in now with that agreed - and I think the real detail is how you actually make it happen".
Experts from University College Cork (UCC) have suggested the cost of implementing such a plan is around €40bn.
On this, Mr Ryan said: "There is costs as you change, but there is also benefits."
Giving an example, he said: "Ireland is probably one of the windiest parts of the world, and actually if you look at our sea area is 10-times our land area.
"The Norwegian government is now starting to licence very large floating offshore wind farms.
"Part of our plan in terms of meeting these targets, and turning it into an economic opportunity, would be to go out into the Atlantic - as well as the Irish Sea - tap into that offshore wind power supply, bring it in to power our country but also sell it to rest of Europe as a way of helping solving this climate crisis.
"You can look at it two ways: you can see that as a huge cost, cause it does cost money - big engineering, huge project - but it's also in the long run a comparative, competitive advantage for this country".
But he said any such approach "has to work for everyone" in the economy.
