Ian Marshall (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Professor Stott for a very interesting presentation. My question is slightly different from some of the questions that have gone before. If we accept that the phenomenon of climate change is a global one and deal with it in that context, there is no doubt that human activity is hastening change and what is happening in the environment. When we consider that the global population is 7.5 billion and is predicted to rise to 9.3 billion by 2050, that is going to have an effect. When we consider this on a per capitabasis, because we accept there are more people on the planet which will have a bigger impact, how much is that changing as we go forward, when we consider people are becoming more aware of these issues?

I refer to the studies carried out on the impact of climate change on developed countries compared to underdeveloped countries, that is, First World countries compared to Third World countries, or the impact of climate change between different continents. I am interested to learn, in the wake of the Kyoto and Paris Agreements, about countries that could benefit from climate change, and do not have a huge appetite to join us on this issue and try to deal with climate change. We all accept that we have responsibility to deal with this and to address the problems and to lead by example, especially the UK and Ireland. Could this good work be offset by an appetite in other parts of the world to industrialise and grow? If that is the case, how do we address this conundrum of collective responsibility?