Umbrella Action Day Against Climate Change

Stop Climate Chaos Calls for a Price on Carbon Pollution Umbrella Action Day on anniversary of Government formation

On Sunday, June 15th at 3 p.m. people will gather at the Martello Tower in Sandymount to demand that the government act on climate change. But instead of placards, they will have umbrellas in their hands. Directed by leading choreographer, Muirne Bloomer, who has choreographed such events as the opening ceremony of the Ryder Cup, they will dance on the strand and become a sea of waving umbrellas. This second Umbrella Action Day, organised by the Stop Climate Chaos, will graphically illustrate Ireland's record on greenhouse gas emissions compared with that of other countries.

Ciara Gaynor, of Trócaire, a spokesperson for the coalition said:

"Last year we pressed the new Dáil and the incoming Government to take climate change seriously. One year on we're telling them how to start reducing Ireland's outsized carbon footprint. We're going back to the beach to demand the Government put a clear, fair, price on carbon across the whole economy".

Since the Kyoto clock starting ticking on 1 January this year we're all paying a price for Ireland's appalling record of pollution. For every tonne of greenhouse gases Ireland emits over and above our Kyoto target the Government has to buy a pollution permit overseas to cover it. The Government has already put €290 million aside for this purpose and with the price of carbon credits now above €25 a tonne the total could easily double before the end of the Kyoto period in 2012. This money is coming from general taxation so no matter now much you reduce your carbon footprint you still have to pay. It's a stealth tax, there's no incentive for anyone to cut their pollution.

"Rather than picking the pockets of PAYE taxpayers to buy pollution permits the government should put a clear, fair, price on carbon that rewards those that reduce their footprint and penalises those that pollute profligately," continued Ms Gaynor.

So the real question is not whether but how carbon is to be priced. The last Government promised a carbon tax which was first delayed and then dropped. The Programme for Government negotiated exactly a year ago this week promises the introduction of a carbon levy, but fear is growing that the Commission on Taxation, whose full report is not due until late next year, is being used to delay implementation.

Oisin Coghlan of Friends of the Earth, a member of the coalition said:

"It's exactly 10 years since Minister Dempsey agreed our Kyoto target and first called for a carbon tax to help achieve it. After a decade of inaction we have no more time for dithering and procrastination. With the Kyoto clock ticking, we need to see a carbon price in December's Budget."

Umbrella Action Day on Sunday is a chance for people out to remind our politicians that doing our fair share to tackle climate change is of vital and immediate importance.

ENDS