What has Phil Hogan achieved on the Climate Change issue?

22nd April 2013

Nothing that he should be so proud of.

Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan said this morning.  "Phil Hogan is boasting that he has achieved more in two years than any previous Minister for the Environment on the climate issue, which shows, more than anything else, how out of touch he is with reality." 

"Hogan's record has indeed been unique, but for all the wrong reasons.  His arrogance and swagger is only exceeded by the scale of mistakes that he has made. We are further than ever from getting the politics of climate change right." 


1 He introduced the wrong property tax.
With a once in a lifetime opportunity to reform our tax system to help deliver a sustainable economy, Phil Hogan has got it horribly wrong at every turn.   Rather than introducing a promised Site Value tax, which would have promoted better use of land, he has pushed through an unfair alternative which brings no environmental gain.   

2 He took two years to redraft existing climate legislation, with the good bits taken out.
Environmental organisations agree that the draft heads of a bill published  by Phil Hogan will leave us with the worst of all possible solutions. They provide neither the top down targets that would mandate change nor the bottom up systems to make things happen.  

3 He has rowed back on progressive motoring, building and waste regulations.
Phil Hogan increased motor tax on low emission vehicles.  He pulled a requirement that property signs should carry a building energy rating.  He abandoned ambitious building standards that would have made new buildings carbon neutral.  He is overseeing a pitch battle in the Dublin Waste business where the incentives to recycle are being lost. 

4 He has overseen a retreat from the new Green economy
Under his watch, spending and employment in the building retrofit industry has halved.  Renewable power investment is grinding to a halt and major public project such as the Dublin Metro were abandoned, against the advice of the IMF.

5 Business as usual rather than real political reform
Phil Hogan ignored the issue of corruption by pulling several ready-to-go planning inquiries.  He gave up the idea of having a directly elected Mayor for Dublin.   He cut out a whole tier of local government while failing to provide direct democratic accountability at a Regional level.  All these retreats are critical because we will needs the right local Government structures if we are going to address the climate issue.

ENDS