Mr. Dariusz Konefal:

I am delighted to be here today to represent Longford Comhairle na nÓg. I thank the committee for providing an opportunity to hear the voices of young people, especially in these times where the topic of climate change can no longer be ignored. I would like to address this committee on the economic barriers to reducing our carbon footprint in the countryside.

The divide between country and city politics is always tremendous. This divide could not have been better outlined than during the ongoing debate on banning the sale of turf. From my own experience, I can say the anger and general confusion in the countryside towards the proposal on banning the sale of turf is beyond compare. However, this is not due to a lack of belief in climate change; it is squarely rooted in the fact that people see this proposal as bringing more austerity in a time already filled with it. This relates to a topic I have found commonly brought up in youth circles discussing climate change, namely, the feeling that climate action is inaccessible to those with less economic stability. I also share this point of view, especially when contrasted with the grant schemes available to people.

When living in the countryside, having a car is the only realistic choice of transport as public transport is basically non-existent. Getting a €5,000 grant to buy an electric car that costs €35,000 still requires the means to gather the additional €30,000. For most people, this is an impossible cost to take on when adding the further exorbitant monthly cost of rent, utilities and food. Buying an electric car simply would put many people’s lives in a worse-off manner discouraging this route to climate action. From that perspective, an active failing of the just transition comes into view. Such a failing could heavily slow down and hinder climate action progress in this country, which is a major cause for concern while we are still so far behind many other countries. Furthermore, the disconnect between city and countryside is directly leading to a culture war against climate action. The current situation is living a good life where a person is not climate-conscious or living a bad life where a person is climate-conscious but it does not have to be this way.

This brings me back to the proposal to ban the sale of turf. It is a change that correctly aims to secure the future of young people but suffers from the same issue as current climate policies in Ireland. It does not include any actions to protect those affected from any financial cost or even give them a financial benefit. It is a sad realisation the current rent and cost-of-living issues will be around for quite a long time but we still desperately need climate action. Such climate action cannot be financially negative for individuals. Any climate policy that is financially negative will cause massive issues for Ireland’s population and has the potential to stoke a culture war that could create a landscape like that of America - a place where individuals have become so entrenched in their anti-climate change beliefs there is seemingly no way to truly fight climate change.

Present policies towards managing the financial cost of climate action are not realistic for much of the Irish population, especially for young people, who have to deal with possibly never being able to buy their own home. This creates desperation. Desperation can lead to pushback, which certainly would slow down our climate action progress significantly. The cost-of-living crisis creates an opportunity to use financially positive climate action incentives as a sound investment that betters the lives of people and the economy, especially the future of the economy. Safeguarding people from poverty while transitioning them to a more climate-conscious life is an amazing opportunity that currently presents itself. This opportunity may never come again. It is vitally important that as my generation starts to build up our lives outside our parents’ homes, we have a realistic choice in having a climate-conscious life. Currently, this is not a realistic possibility. Policies that are financially positive to us young people are a key solution in fixing this. I implore this committee to seriously explore and scale up financially positive climate action policies and incentives. Without this, I do not believe we can call anything a just transition. People believe in climate change, but they do not believe in austerity. That is all. I thank the committee.