GE2024: What the top polling parties plan to do about climate change

With the general election now so close, it's understandable if you still feel uncertain about where you want your vote to go or who you think best represents your beliefs. While the final decision should be yours and yours alone, one way to get a better idea of what candidates would offer you is to see how they plan on dealing with important issues.

Among the most important issues for young voters is, understandably, sustainability and dealing with climate change. Regardless of how much personal responsibility we put on ourselves or the level of effort we make to be more sustainable, true change will have to come from a governmental level.

With that in mind, we took a look at the manifestos of Ireland's highest polling parties to get a sense of how they will approach the issue. If you'd like to learn more, we have already covered the topics of the housing crisis and cost of living.

Fine Gael

Given how much importance Fine Gael has placed on "Securing your Future" during this campaign, sustainability will play a big role in their ability to convince younger voters to back their party. Some of the measures they have promised include the creation of a new State body and incentives for greater usage of electric cars.

You'll find a more detailed breakdown of their plans in the election manifesto, but here are some of the standout points:

• Ensure all new public buildings are zero-emission from 2028
• Require each State body to conduct a Green Audit
• Continue with the planned carbon tax increase
• Increase fines for littering and dumping
• Create a new Department of Infrastructure, Climate and Transport

Fianna Fáíl

Fianna Fáíl's plan for tackling climate change will undoubtedly be a determining factor for many voters. Similarly to Fine Gael and the Green Party, they face the challenge of convincing those who believe not enough progress has been made by the current Government.

Climate change and biodiversity loss are defined in Fianna Fáil's manifesto as some of the most urgent threats that we face. Here are some of the headline steps the party promises to take:

• Increase the affordability of retrofitting for households
• Establish a new Energy Advice Service in every local authority
• Encourage data centres/other industries to supply waste heat for community projects
• Increase SEAI grants for heat pumps
• Support proposal for a 90% reduction in EU emissions by 2040

Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin has been centred around being "The Choice for Change," and their campaign has been centred around doing things differently to previous governments. In the section titled Environment, climate and energy, the party has set out its position on sustainability.

Here are some of the key steps they promise to take:

• Pollution tax on private jets
• Ban corporations dumping new and unused goods
• Investment in grid expansion and upgrade
• Establish a State-owned Renewable Energy Investment scheme
• Establish a a dedicated €300m nature restoration fund

Social Democrats

For the Social Democrats, party leader Holly Cairns will likely be hoping to play a role in forming the next government. If they can successfully convince enough young people to vote for the party's candidates, that could well end up being the case.

Their promise is built around offering something different, having been highly critical of the current Government. The party promises to only join a government committed to reaching climate targets, with these other measures also included in the manifesto:

• Create a revised Climate Action Plan
• A €5,000 electric vehicle grant
• Develop wildlife corridors across Ireland
• Reduce demand and supply of single-use plastics
• Install solar panels on 100,000 homes per year

Labour

"Positive change" is the slogan of Labour's 2024 election campaign. The party will be relying heavily on a desire for change if they want to restore their presence in the Dáil to what it once was, with climate action understandably being a large part of their overall strategy.

Among the measures included in their 2024 manifesto are:

• A levy on the electricity use of data centres
• Zero rate of VAT on bikes and heat pumps
• An SUV tax proportionate to the size of the car
• A €2.5bn national retrofitting fund for energy efficiency upgrades
• 15 new LUAS lines by 2040, including several cities outside Dublin

Green Party

As the party name would suggest, sustainability is at the core of the Green Party's campaign for the 2024 general election. Their entire manifesto is tailored to the target year of 2030, as research suggests the progress we make before that year is crucial to any chances of tackling climate change.

Here are some of the measures laid out in the party's manifesto:

• €10 billion public transport plan, using €7 billion from Apple tax money
• A "climate ticket" for public transport to replace the "tax saver ticket"
• Develop a nature restoration plan
• A €1.2bn public buildings retro-fitting fund
• €200m fund to research new clean technologies