Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I read the Minister's opening statement last night and again this morning and what struck me is that not many people know what is meant by the acronym "COP". There is an idea out there that politicians are behaving in an elitist way and doing things over people's heads. We now have an acronym for least developed countries, LDCs, and for small island developing states, SIDS. To whom are such acronyms of use? If I were walking down the main street in Naas today, not many people would be able to tell me that "COP" stands for Conference of Parties. I very much worry that the important party in all of this, which is the public, cannot but feel excluded because of the language used around these conferences, which are supposedly held for their benefit. In the area of climate change, it seems like things are being done over people's heads. Carbon taxes are being imposed on the public without its say by people who are vastly more privileged than are the people who will pay those taxes. We must be more egalitarian and inclusive, and less reliant on jargon, when it comes to talking about and framing climate issues, especially at the upcoming global meeting. Will the Minister raise the point at the COP summit about the need for plain language usage, whether in English, French, German, Spanish or any other language?

We need to be more radical in our approach to youth transport. I spoke in the Dáil last week about the importance of making public transport a natural choice for young people.

As a small island on the edge of Europe, does the Minister think we are doing all we can to stand by people around the world who are already marginalised? I am thinking of people who have been driven off their lands by desertification - in Syria, for instance - because of overgrazing or lack of water. The debate on water and the right to water must be to the fore at the COP26 summit. Could we use our role on the UN Security Council to show people around the world that we are on their side in this area? Ireland really must up its game on the geopolitics around climate change. To reiterate, I ask the Minister to emphasise at the COP26 summit the importance of plain language and to focus on how Ireland can stand up for people already on the margins.