The Social Democrats have today launched their ‘Greener and Fairer\u2019 Climate Policy with wide-ranging proposals to address what they describe as the\u00a0fundamental issue facing our country and our planet. The party says that creating a sustainable society requires everyone to play their part but at the same time it is important to ensure that too high a burden doesn\u2019t fall on the shoulders of ordinary and low-income households. The policy criticises the report on carbon tax from the All-Party Oireachtas Committee, saying it wasn\u2019t poverty-proofed as initially intended and therefore has not laid out a clear path to ensure a fair mechanism in applying the tax.<\/p>\n
Party co-leader Catherine Murphy<\/strong> said:<\/p>\n \u201cThe Climate Crisis is the single biggest threat to our environment, to our standards of living and to our existence. The actions we take or fail to take now will affect our country and our planet for generations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe vast majority of people are anxious to make changes wherever possible to help address the climate emergency but at the same time it\u2019s important that people are supported and encouraged to make changes in a way that is fair and doesn\u2019t place an undue financial burden on ordinary households.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of our proposals is for a front-loaded \u2018pay as you safe\u2019 home insulation scheme \u2013 this is a very practical mechanism which would allow households to make significant energy savings in their home but without having to find a lump-sum to pay for the insulation works. These are the kind of things which help people make changes but to do so in a way that doesn\u2019t place a burden on household income.\u201d<\/p>\n