Ireland's obligations with regard to climate change are guided by international, European and national commitments, including the Kyoto protocol, the EU's Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), and our own national climate change strategy.

Local authorities can have a significant influence over climate change in their local areas, both directly through reduction of their own energy-use emissions and procurement activities; awareness-raising and stimulation of action in local communities; and indirectly through the exercise of their housing, planning and other statutory functions.

CO2 emissions could be drastically reduced with existing technologies through a combination of energy efficiency in housing, locally-based renewable energy generation, waste recovery, food production and a reduced need to travel, all of which can be facilitated to a large extent by local authorities.

Because of the influence that local authorities have on this highly important area, they are encouraged through the above instruments to develop climate change strategies and to adopt climate change proofing across all of their operations.

In this context, Green Party councillors ensure that:

1. Local authorities develop Climate Change Strategies in the context of the National Climate Change Strategy.
2. Local development plans and other plans, studies and policy documents undergo Climate Change Proofing.
3. Climate Change Proofing is integrated across all areas of a local authority's operation.
4. The use of renewable energy is promoted in all aspects of a local authority's business including housing provision, thereby also reducing fuel poverty.
5. Energy efficient products are used and supported throughout the local authority and in the wider community.
6. Water conservation is promoted among the public through education and information dissemination.
7. The cycle-to-work scheme is promoted among local authority staff and local businesses.
8. Safe Routes to School are developed and promoted in schools and in the wider community.
9. The local community is educated about climate change and how to alter their behaviour to combat this.
10. Provide real time information to locals e.g. on water usage.

Irish implementation of EU environmental legislation to date is one of the worst in Europe. A significant proportion of environment-related complaints to the European Commission come from Irish citizens. The complaints against Ireland cover many issues including failure to control illegal waste activities, decline in water quality, heritage sites under attack from development and lack of or poor environmental and social impact assessments. While the Environmental Protection Agency acts as the ultimate environmental management body in Ireland, the implementation and enforcement of most environmental legislation rests with local authorities.

Green Party councillors therefore ensure:

1. Proper enforcement of local planning laws.
2. The development and implementation of Local Agenda 21 Plans, which facilitate sustainable development at community level.
3. Meaningful public participation in all environmental decision-making.
4. Good performance in environmental performance audits based on the National Local Authority Service Indicators.
5. The development and efficient monitoring of Air Quality Management Plans.
6. Real-time information on-line on air and water quality.
7. The prevention of flooding through good planning decisions and the protection of floodplains by adherence to the Floodplain Guidelines.
   [Download the Floodplain Guidelines PDF]
8. The protection and expansion of biodiversity through compliance with EU regulations that all local authorities employ biodiversity officers.
9. The integration of conservation into all relevant policy areas.
10. The protection and promotion of trees and hedgerows based on new guidelines being issued by Green Minister, John Gormley.
11. Mandatory listing of public rights of way within development plans.

The Green Party believes that waste should be minimised first and foremost through reduction followed by reuse and then recycling. Local authorities can become leaders in this area and set an example to local business by ensuring that the amount of waste they themselves produce is reduced to an absolute minimum.

The reuse of materials by local authorities in house-building and infrastructural projects could also make a significant local impact on the amount of waste for disposal. Finally, a strict recycling system within all local authorities would not only reduce the amount of waste for landfill but also encourage local business growth in the recycling sector.

Green Party councillors:

1. Ensure waste prevention and minimisation objectives are prioritised within all County Waste Management Plans.
2. Establish new waste collection service systems that will prohibit flat rate charges and introduce volume or weight-related charges.
3. Publish an annual inventory of waste generation and recycling.
4. Continue to oppose incineration of municipal waste and actively seek alternatives to the incineration of toxic and hazardous waste.
5. Prohibit the disposal of mixed wet and dry waste through a review of development plans.
6. Introduce 'cleanfill' sites that accept only inert and sterile waste.
7. Phase out existing landfills; those remaining are restricted to residual dry waste that cannot be recycled.
8. Promote Anaerobic Waste Digestors to turn biodegradable food and waste into energy.
9. Ensure that decisions on waste are taken by democratically elected representatives rather than City and County Managers.
10. Provide for a 'one-stop shop' in each local authority to deal with illegal dumping, litter and graffiti.
11. Encourage local authorities to increase municipal recycling waste targets.
12. Establish a voluntary agreement with local commercial/retail operators to take back used packaging for re-use where feasible.
13. Encourage local commercial/retail operators to develop their own Waste Management Plans and provide whatever information and assistance is required to do this.
14. Provide assistance for small-scale, not-for-profit and community-based re-use, repair and recycle enterprises.
15. Support community-based waste management initiatives, such as community composting and community recycling collection services.
16. Encourage 'Freecycle' monthly markets.

The Green Party recognises the paramount importance of water as a vital natural resource which needs strong protection to ensure its continued supply. For this reason, Minister John Gormley has invested heavily in the national water infrastructure and funding in this area has now reached record levels. The Green Party believes this area has been under-resourced for years but proper funding at central level will now produce an impact at local level. Although water supply is controlled at national level, local authorities have a significant input into the delivery of water services locally with regard to fresh drinking water and sewage treatment.

Green Party councillors continue to:

1. Ensure sustainable planning and development, where environmental consequences are factored into decision-making, for the protection of local water sources.
2. Follow Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines to tackle the problem of rural transport emissions and the impact of development in areas without sufficient local water or waste water treatment services.
3. Adhere to new guidelines on site-suitability assessments for all development in rural areas, which will ensure limitations on development in close proximity to watercourses, in areas with regionally important aquifers, EU-designated areas SACs/SPAs, Natural Heritage Areas and in areas of high visual amenity.
4. Ensure that the Floodplain Guidelines (2009) are adhered to so that development is not allowed on land with a high flood risk.
5. Avail of greater funding for capital investment in sewage treatment infrastructure to promote efficient sewage treatment by local authorities.
6. Seek to end the pollution caused by inefficient sewage treatment and ensure stringent monitoring of water standards including the provision of water-testing reports, which are publicly available.
7. Encourage the use of reed beds to treat sewage.
8. Encourage and facilitate rural householders to upgrade existing inadequate septic tanks to better 'bio-cycle' type units.
9. Press for timely compliance with the EU Water Framework Directive, which must in any event be transposed to national law and implemented by 2015 to prevent EU fines.
10. Ensure the preservation of waterways and the biodiversity contained within.
11. Ensure that the role of wetlands in the water cycle and the functioning of aquatic systems is recognised in current local water management strategies.
12. Introduce and support rain and grey water recycling locally.

The Green Party believes that this country's energy supply must move away from carbon to new and clean sources, not only to tackle climate change both nationally and globally but also to reduce our high dependence on imported fossil fuels, a dependence which drains our economy and leaves us in a weakened position with regard to fuel and food security. For this reason, Minister Eamon Ryan has invested substantially in renewable energy research and development. In the long-term, this investment will decrease our dependence on expensive imported fossil fuels thereby improving our economy through lowered production costs and the creation of indigenous jobs.

In local government, Green Party councillors have succeeded in encouraging some local authorities to conduct energy audits and switch to green electricity; and have also lobbied for greater energy conservation in new buildings.

Green councillors continue to:

1. Develop the role of local authorities in the roll-out of programmes from the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan.
   [Download the Energy Efficiency Action Plan PDF]
2. Develop emergency plans for energy supply locally and liaise with local business and suppliers in doing so.
3. Implement higher local building standards as has been done in Fingal, DunLaoghaire-Rathdown and Wicklow so that new housing has 60% lower heat energy demand than existing building standards, and that 30% of that demand is met from renewable sources. This saves people significant amounts of money on fuel bills. www.sei.ie, www.greenparty.ie
4. Ensure that all current council buildings are energy efficient, in compliance with the new Building Standards introduced in 2008.
5. Ensure that all new council buildings use a percentage of renewable source energy and lower energy demand.
6. Provide sufficient information on available grants for householders to increase energy efficiency and save money, through the Home Energy Savings Scheme, the Warmer Homes Scheme, and the Greener Homes Scheme, so that there is a high uptake of these grants.
7. Ensure that local authorities are themselves energy efficient in every aspect of their operation.
8. Encourage alternative energy projects through County Development Plans and the planning process.
9. Encourage micro-generation locally by a large number of small-scale centres.
10. Assist in the roll-out of 'Smart Meters' which enable householders to gauge energy usage and ultimately to sell home-generated electricity back to the national grid.
11. Ensure that local authorities avail to the greatest possible extent of the benefits which will accrue from the establishment by Minister Eamon Ryan at the Department of Energy and Communications of the East-West Inter-connector and the North-South Inter-connector.
12. Ensure that local authorities establish a local Climate Change Strategy, which will in turn feed into the National Climate Change Strategy. [Download the National Climate Change Strategy PDF]
13. Engage local authorities in the Nuclear Free Local Authorities initiative.
14. Support alternatives to car use by improving conditions for cyclists, pedestrians and bus passengers.
15. Support the use of electric vehicles through the provision of re-charging sites.

The Green Party believes that local food growth forms an important component of a healthy community. For this reason, we recently launched a campaign to get Ireland growing

We support more organic and local food production in an effort to reduce wasteful transportation, provide local employment, and strengthen links between producers and consumers an integral part of reducing our climate change emissions and increasing food security. We therefore encourage local authorities to support local food growing initiatives.

Local authorities can play a significant role in increasing food security by encouraging more locally grown food with provisions for allotments, community gardens and urban vegetable growing.

Green Party councillors continue to:

1. Call for the establishment of allotments and community gardens, in consultation with the local community.
2. Support and promote the allocation of local authority land for allotments and community gardens to unlock the potential for local social and economic benefits.
3. Encourage the use of best practice in the provision of allotments and community gardens among local authorities.
4. Allocate funding to support community gardens and community food growing initiatives (local authorities can draw funding from existing sources under their Community and Amenities Grants).
5. Develop local food-growing projects, which encourage community participation.
6. Support national, regional and local gardening networks.
7. Examine the issue of licensing agreements for organisations/residents associations who wish to set up community gardens on council land.
8. Facilitate community workshops on food-growing and support education and training initiatives for gardening skills.
9. Support community groups and schools in establishing community gardens.
10. Encourage schools with existing gardens to widen their catchment beyond the school population.