Dr Tadhg O'Mahony

27 January 2022

On the 15th of December, the Green Party convention held a special session on Systems Change with TD Brian Leddin, Clare O’Connor and Tadhg O’Mahony. During the session, from about 10:30 onwards, Tadhg had the opportunity to outline:

1. Why systems change is essential if we are to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland. Without fundamental transformation there will be no net-zero.

2. What this could entail for key sectors.

3. How systems transformation offers far more benefits (known as synergies) than costs (tradeoffs)

4. Why technology is necessary for this transformation, but is not enough.

5. How Ireland does not currently have the evidence, analytical tools or policies necessary to consider or deliver systems change, and as a result, always plumps for facile and sub-optimal technological shifts. 

This current approach in Ireland, relying on technological transition, is a risky weak sustainabilty path. It can be said with high confidence, that our current path will put a meaningful and sustainable net-zero out of reach. It will also miss the many opportunities and impose unnecessary costs. The key challenge in Ireland is therefore not policy implementation, it is that we do not yet have the required policies and approaches to enable transformation. Our public institutions were built in the last century to serve a different purpose, and are not yet set up for the task of net-zero and plugging the sustainability gap.

The session was a fertile ground to discuss how we can do far better, what this could involve, and the bright future that this could lead us to.