The Irish Government will convene a public-private partnership with a coalition of private sector firms representing Ireland’s vibrant innovation and technology economy, as well as other leading sectors. Voluntary donor contributions made by members would be paired with supplemental public funds and/or in-kind incentives to underwrite an annual, competitive CDR procurement programme.
In-kind public incentives for carbon removal innovators could include favourable tax and regulatory conditions, innovation and entrepreneur support, and/or targeted labour market policies.
For each year of the initial 3-year authorised pilot, the Irish government would release a request for proposals for procurement of durable carbon dioxide removal services equalling a fixed volume (tonnes) based on the level of contributions from partners, as well as an assessment of market readiness and potential.
A program of this kind would be co-designed, implemented and administered with oversight and/or input by multiple agencies having relevant authority, including but not limited to the Industrial Development Agency, Enterprise Ireland and the Environmental Protection agency.
An idea to counter the moral hazard argument/concerns through the policy: The policy could include a requirement for companies who want to join the program to (for example): 1. report on their emissions profile 2. have an emissions reduction plan in place 3. make those two things publicly available (for increased transparency/accountability) It might help relieve some concerns around companies offsetting without mitigating, and emphasise reductions and removals should happen in parallel.
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