The Isle of Man could fail to meet its first interim climate target, but the chief minister says if it is missed, "we'll be very close".
At a summit of the British-Irish Council, Alfred Cannan said hitting the 2030 target is becoming "increasingly tight".
The Climate Change Act 2021 sets out three legally binding targets as the Island makes its journey to net-zero.
By 2030, government is required by law to have ensured carbon emissions are cut by at least 35-percent.
As part of that, electricity must be decarbonised by 100-percent.
Manx Radio's Christian Jones sat down to discuss the targets with Chief Minister Alfred Cannan.
Hello and welcome in for another episode of Manx Radio's Newscast, a chance to take a closer look at some of the topics in more detail than may typically be heard on the various news and current affairs programs on air. Now the Chief Minister has been reflecting on the island's climate ambitions and the emissions reductions required. The Climate Change Act 2021 sets out three legally binding targets of which two are interim. By 2030, the island must achieve a 35% reduction in emissions. However, Alfred Cannon recently said if the island did not meet this target, it would be very close. I sat down with Mr Cannon to try and understand what implications this could have. You said in relation to the 2030 interim climate target that we are just about on track but it's becoming increasingly tight and then you later mentioned if the Isle of Man isn't at 35% reduction in its emissions by 2030, it will be very close to it. It is very close good enough. Before I just talk about the specific targets, Christian, I think it is worth reminding ourselves the benefits to the island go beyond just targets. We get cost benefits in terms of cheaper energy. We get energy security by delivering on renewable energy opportunities that we have both on the island and offshore in our territorial seas and of course we get economic security and energy security from pursuing these opportunities. So attached to all these targets and the 35% that we have got now in stone for 2030, there are significant benefits for every individual on the island. But yes, it is tight because delivering on this type of technology, particularly because energy and energy delivery is right at the heart at the core of these targets does take considerable time. There are lots of considerations in terms of putting together the policy, the process, the statutory procedures that need to be followed and of course any lawful interventions that come from third parties when these types of operations and plans are being brought forward to operational delivery. So I recognise and can see that some of those challenges are emerging. But nevertheless, I still believe that we can deliver on this target and that fundamentally this decarbonisation of our electricity supply which really lies at the heart of achieving that target can be done by 2030. Okay, out of all the targets interim or not, how many of them are actually in law? So we've got three in law effectively, the 2050 net zero target but we've got a reduction of 35% by 2030 and 45% by 2035. So when you said if the old man doesn't meet its 2030 targets, it'll be very close to that. Does that mean the old man government could be in danger of being in breach of its own laws? Well, I think the important thing is that we need to keep on top of this and we need to keep working at it and that's why we set up an energy policy board. The Councillor & Minister set up an energy policy board so that we drew out a lot of this activity which can be across the departments. The Department of Infrastructure, for example, is very concerned with the delivery of the offshore wind farm and the progress that is being made. If the target is not met though, what happens? Well, there's no, there's nothing in law to say there is any penalty attached to this. So effectively it's a bit like Scotland has missed its latest climate change targets. It becomes effectively a matter, just of reputational damage, I suppose, of a government who set targets and not met those. I want to come back to the reputational damage that you just spoke about and obviously the old man is a UNESCO biosphere. Your manifesto says the words climate change 10 times so it features very heavily throughout. If you were still the Chief Minister in 2030 and this target isn't met, would you see that as a serious failure and reconsider your position? We will be very close if we haven't already met this target. I think that that is clear to me in terms of the position that we are currently in at the moment. So just to go back to the question, if you did fail, meeting that 2030 target, would you be reconsidering your position? Well, I think that one would, Christian, you were asking me to have an odd even, we're only just over halfway through this current government. So I just think, as a question, I can understand the sentiment that you have, but frankly that it's so far down the line that one would need to get to the next election in two years' time to reassess even where one would consider the government to go and of course the electorate themselves would need to say on a whole vast range of issues before you even got to consider whether or not I may or may not be Chief Minister in 2030. The UK government has been sued twice for failing to bring forward tangible plans which would cut emissions. Could that be a realistic expectation for the Isle of Man government to be sued if it starts getting too close for comfort? Probably not technically qualified enough to answer that question specifically. What I would say is that we've made responsible commitments, partly in line with our responsible government responding to the threats and challenges that are recognised now across the international community in terms of climate change, but also because we recognise that actually delivering on those targets will create more opportunity locally for cheaper electricity, for energy security and for creation of additional economic benefits in terms of jobs, infrastructure and new technologies. And I think at the heart of it, irrespective of your overall views on climate change, if you consider that you're going to get those three key benefits from delivering on this in terms of our renewable energy commitments in particular. And as I say, Chris, why am I talking about renewable energy the whole time? Because actually it's really at the heart of delivering on that 35% target, but also you decarbonise your electricity supply. You basically start to unlock the rest of the opportunities and for that we need to unlock in order to deliver on the greater net zero targets that we have for 2050 and also the other interim target in 2035. In comparison to all other emissions reductions measures, electricity decarbonisation is the largest making up for about 68% of the whole decarbonisation by 2030 plan. That relies very heavily on the second interconnect to being in place. Do you think there's too much reliance on that? There is still, I guess, a lot of work to do to actually understand whether or not and how a second interconnector would come into play because we know that since that was initially discussed, the costs have risen substantially. I mean, details were delivered pre-cost of living crises, pre the sort of bouts of inflation that we've gone through, pre-all the infrastructure costs rising and pre a point in which our own plans for renewable energy were far less advanced than where they are now. We're still looking at second interconnector. I don't think it necessarily is the be all an end or when it comes to delivering our future decarbonisation commitments. We're without that in place and assuming that all the other targets were met, the all of a man would only be 11% decarbonised, which isn't even a third of the targets. The MEO says it's still carrying out a feasibility study on the second interconnector. Do you know anything about that feasibility study? I know that that's what I've exactly what I in many ways just said. The feasibility study is still being undertaken. But as I said, if we were delivering in terms of the 20 megawatts on Ireland, if Orsted were to deliver on terms of their more of an end project and with the capabilities of our current interconnector, then we could meet our targets. Do you know how much the second interconnector could cost based on rough figures that the MEO are suggesting based on this feasibility study? I think it would be, I think proper figures should be published. We started off at a base cost of around 100 million pounds. I suspect that's gone up considerably since those figures were initially quoted. Thank you for making it to the end of the Manx Radio Newscast. You are obviously someone with exquisite taste. May I politely suggest you might want to subscribe to this and a wide range of Manx Radio podcasts at your favourite podcast provider, so our best bits will magically appear on your smartphone. Thank you. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]
