Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests. Their contributions were powerful, important, serious and thoughtful. They made it clear that climate action is not something that can sit at the side or be added on or greenwashed. Rather, it requires prioritisation. That is one of the words I underlined. It needs to be a priority and that means changing economic policies and challenging energy policies. It requires us to dig deep into the way those matters are approached. One of our guests stated that this will basically be a seismic change in how we live, not just as individuals, but collectively.

Many interesting ideas have been put forward that can be followed and engaged on. I refer to the ideas in respect of transport and it being available within an area as well as between different areas. It is not just about there being a bus to Dublin once or twice a week; it is a matter of whether people can travel between the towns in their county and whether it is possible to plan for those areas in that way. That was a really good point. There was reference to sustainable rural transport being absolutely imaginable and something that already exists, be that ferries, trains or buses. There have been really good ideas put forward in that regard. Reference was made to a congestion charge and ensuring that we are not simply subsidising electric vehicles, EVs, for people who live in cities. That is not the solution we need on transport.

I was struck by the comments on fashion. It was an interesting analysis. It is relevant because there are two important Bills being progressed. In Ireland, we have the circular economy Bill. It is legislation that was considered by the committee and will be going through the Houses. We need to consider what that will look like. It is not just about recycling; it is about thinking about resources from the beginning - considering the emissions produced from the very start point of each ingredient in a product, including fashion. It is also about the entitlement to a right to repair.

There is also, at EU level, important legislation on what is called “due diligence”. It is a measure on how to measure supply chains all the way along. It is strong enough at the moment because it does not cover enough companies and has many loopholes. It needs to be strengthened. These are very important decisions. More than 200 new items of environmental legislation will be introduced at EU level in the next two or three years. Many of these will have an effect in Ireland and how we interpret them matters. Our guests’ specific ideas are very important because they help make sure we interpret them in the strongest way.

Mr. Mustafa spoke about fashion. I was very struck by the idea of the challenge of being a good person in a bad system. It is not enough to have motivational talks and tell people to be good people when we have bad systems. It is our responsibility to change systems. Our guests can push, demand and call for that but we also need to step up and do it. The systemic changes Mr. Mustafa identified are very interesting, as is the idea that it is not simply enough to put the emotional burden on individuals and how they spend their money. For many people, they will not have much money to spend, be it in a sustainable way or not, because they are trying to manage basic things. That kind of change is what I will take from this discussion. I would be interested in hearing more comments on that.

The point was made that the climate action fund is €500 million and it should be ten times that. We hear a great deal about how to make green energy affordable. We should be investing in renewable rather than nuclear energy. If, in the next five to ten years, we invested as much in renewable energy as other countries have invested in nuclear or as much as we provide to subsidise fossil fuels, that could be radical and transformative. Ireland subsidises jet kerosene for aeroplanes by €600 million every year, yet the climate action fund is just €500 million. I would love to hear our guests’ ideas. If we took the suggestion to increase the fund by ten times, what radical ideas would €5 billion address in the next two or three years? That is the kind of demand we need to have and I am very interested in that.

Many of our guests spoke about climate justice and just transition. Just transition is not simply about continuing with business as usual because it is too hard to change, be that burning peat or anything else. It is about front-loading investment in change. It is the idea of just transition being both fast and fair. We heard more than a decade ago about the damage industrial peat was doing because we had reports on the issue. Instead of us using that decade to make the change, it is now being left to individuals. Again, I would like our guests’ thoughts on just transition and what fast but fair looks like. What would transformative public investment look like to help those who will not be able to make it individually as a change?

On islands and climate justice, I was struck by the very powerful contribution on islands and island nations. I think Ms Cullen-Mouze, in her contribution in Irish, reminded me of Mia Mottley's words that two degrees is a death sentence for the Caribbean islands. Ireland has a voice and record on human rights. We have the experience of being colonised in the past and of being part of the wealthy nations of the world now. What can we do on climate justice? I ask our guests to comment on that.