Ms Cliona Sharkey:

I thank the Chairman and I thank Deputy Chambers for the important questions. The Deputy is correct that Ireland has indeed been integrating its support to least developed countries and small island developing states in the context of its bid for the United Nations Security Council. On the one hand, we would not dispute this. Ireland for many years has been a champion of these issues, both within UNFCCC circles but also elsewhere in multilateral fora. As I said, within the UNFCCC itself, Ireland provides consistent technical and policy support to the least developed countries and small island developing states. There is a disconnect and Deputy Sherlock asked that question about disconnect or dichotomy, because on the one hand that support is there, while on the other hand, Ireland is not coming out clearly in support of key issues for the small island developing states and the least developed countries in the negotiations on an increase in ambition. We urgently need an increase in ambition or this is going nowhere. As I said, Ireland did not form part of the coalition for a greater ambition at the COP last year. We are yet to see Ireland commit to the compromise proposals on the table for an increase in the ambition.

Ireland has not come forward with a plan for increasing its climate finance contributions alongside overseas development aid, ODA, which is critical for developing countries. There are the issues of loss and damage. Loss and damage are absolutely essential for the likes of the small island developing states and least developed countries, which are already faced with incredibly high human and economic costs from incidents that they have not created. The only thing that has been put forward by developed countries to date on loss and damage financing is the issue of insurance. To date this is the only area we have seen Ireland say anything about. We would have concerns about that, because in terms of adequacy, insurance just will not meet the needs of loss and damage. From a moral perspective, it is really problematic to be promoting the idea of insurance as the response to loss and damage. We are asking poorer countries and poorer people with constrained budgets that we cannot even begin to fathom here to pay premiums to insure themselves against dramatic impacts that they have not caused and that have been caused by the lack of mitigation here.

Ireland needs to close that gap between its important, long-standing technical support and political support in many circles to the least developed countries and small island developing states and come out very strongly and clearly on those key issues that would be in solidarity with those states in the UNFCCC and that would be critical to building the trust that is needed to get other key items on the negotiating agenda across the line. We cannot underestimate the importance of those high-level political statements that Ireland and the European Union make at the UNFCCC. Aligning with the science and with the need to increase ambition and coming out in support of loss and damage is really critical.