An Taisce has made a submission to the consultation on Investing in our Transport Future - A Strategic Framework for Investment in Land Transport.

The entire document reflects either ignorance or indifference to the global scientific consensus on climate, the Copenhagen Accord and Irish Government commitment to a low carbon future by 2050 in proposed new climate legislation. References to climate are tacked on and not integrated with the evaluative process and concluding principles.

The only way to reconcile the Draft Strategic Framework with the National Policy Position is to re-write the framework bringing the former into line with global scientific consensus on climate. This requires an overarching objective to achieve the objective of the Copenhagen Accord and the September 2014 UN Climate Summit objectives, and to meet the imperative of climate science in the cumulative carbon budget which is available to Ireland.

The document does not assess the fuel source and emission impact of existing and future transport infrastructure. It does not address the fact that climate change is already occurring and adaptation is required to protect coastal road and rail infrastructure from increased exposure to storm conditions. The absence of integration of the principles of the Draft Strategy with climate mitigation and adaptation is startling. This undermines the scientific and economic credibility of the entire process on which the framework’s concluding principles were basedThe entire document reflects either ignorance or indifference to the global scientific consensus on climate, the Copenhagen Accord and Irish Government commitment to a low carbon future by 2050 in proposed new climate legislation. References to climate are tacked on and not integrated with the evaluative process and concluding principles.

Download the submission here.