indicated companies who cannot access renewable energy from the grid or cannot build their own on-site renewable power source “will pick up and go elsewhere”.
“The real tragedy of climate change is that it undermines human rights; people’s right to food, health and life – and that it disproportionately affects the marginalised and the vulnerable,” he added., he noted, had committed to have 20 per cent of its energy needs from renewables by 2020, equivalent to all the energy consumed in the US over a five-year period. This was part of move that would see it become “the clean energy superpower of the 21st century”.
He said there was a risk of divisions opening up during move to a decarbonised Ireland. Sectors should not be set against one another, while fairness was essential for a just transition.