John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree. I have had this conversation before. Sometimes people are intimidated by the debate around climate action because it can be very technical and complex. A key thing politicians have to do is try to make the road to climate action so simplistic and financially incentivised that it will encourage people to embark on it. The vast majority of people want to play their part in climate action but it is up to us as leaders, whether in politics, civil society or the areas the witnesses work in, to make that journey as simplistic as possible.

Certain sectors of society will talk down to people about climate action with a mother-knows-best attitude, telling people they have to do this for the good of the world, rather than telling people there are huge opportunities in green technology or to put solar panels on your roof, power your home, sell excess energy back to the grid and have a couple of hundred quid at the end of the year. That type of language would be useful to bring people along.

When I talk about language, it goes back to the point Dr. Lunn made about how the rural-urban divide can be used for political or personal purposes. In the climate debate in Ireland, certain sectors of the political discourse are happy to try to demonise the concept of climate action for political gain because it may play well with certain sectors of society. That is politics but it shows why the role of independent media is so important because journalists in this country regularly fact-check politicians on issues like housing, business and jobs. They are issues journalists have more of a grasp of, rather than the complexities of the climate change debate. It would be useful if we had more journalists who could fact-check wrong statements made by politicians, political parties or whoever when it comes to climate action. That could be a range of things, including wind and solar. The media has a role to play in independent fact-checking but the problem, as outlined earlier, is having journalists with the level of knowledge to do it.

Dr. Lunn looks at the great enthusiasm among the younger generations for climate action. How would he harness that enthusiasm and change it into opportunities for younger people to play an active role?