Mr. Michael O'Brien:

I thank the Chairperson and members for the invitation to meet with the committee today to discuss COP28. The impacts of climate change on people in the global south have been very clearly addressed by Ms N’Zi-Hassane in her opening statement. I will further address some of the themes she has raised and will focus especially on loss and damage funding as a key outcome that Trócaire has prioritised for this particular COP.

As we all know, 2023 has been a year in which record temperatures have been repeatedly broken, with climate change impacts in the form of unprecedented wildfires, floods and droughts experienced worldwide. Insufficient mitigation and adaptation action to date, as confirmed in the first global stocktake of the Paris Agreement, means the risks associated with breaching that agreement’s 1.5°C threshold are increasingly imminent. As Ms N’Zi-Hassane has referenced, the impacts are more frequent and intense climate and weather events, which means that people around the world are experiencing rising loss and damage costs. With small island developing states and developing countries that have contributed least to the climate crisis facing its worst consequences, the climate crisis is deepening global inequalities. This injustice is manifest in the disproportionate impacts on people living in poverty and others in vulnerable situations and demands that climate action is rooted in human rights and climate justice principles.

The necessity of decisive accelerated action this decade is uniquely underlined for governments at this COP. For the first time since the Paris Agreement, governments are tasked with responding to a global stocktake, a report card on their collective climate action. The political response to the stocktake is a litmus test of governments' commitment to limiting global warming to that target of 1.5°C. These include the need for countries to set more ambitious and detailed 2030 and 2035 nationally determined contribution targets before COP30.

While the ambitious measures required now are costly, the costs will grow all the more burdensome the longer we wait. For communities Trócaire works with in the global south, the costs of insufficient action to date are increasingly devastating. One example is the impact of Cyclone Freddy earlier this year in southern Africa and specifically in Malawi, where we work. Global failure to adequately mitigate and support effective adaptation to climate change means increasing numbers of people are experiencing related loss and damage. After many years work to have loss and damage, which refers to climate change impacts that go beyond what people can adapt to, recognised as an essential third pillar of climate finance, a breakthrough was achieved at last year’s COP, with the parties agreeing to establish a new loss and damage fund.

A year on, significantly affected sectors, such as agriculture, which accounted for more than a quarter of all loss and damages between 2008 and 2018, and communities that have experienced and are experiencing economic costs, including loss of livelihoods, homes and land, and non-economic costs, including loss of life, culture and biodiversity, await the operationalisation of this fund. Ireland, as a country which played a leading role at COP27 forging agreement to establish the fund, followed by our participation throughout 2023 in the transitional committee meetings which have resulted in a list of implementation recommendations being brought forward to COP 28, has an important role to play in the successful operationalisation of the fund. New research by Christian Aid Ireland and Trócaire estimates Ireland’s fair share of loss and damage finance, to help developing countries pay for the cost of the climate crisis, to be at least €1.5 billion annually by 2030. My colleague from Christian Aid Ireland, Mr. O'Neill, will elaborate on how this figure was arrived at.

We urge Ireland to advocate for a clear commitment by richer countries to pay their fair share of finance into the fund on an ongoing basis. This funding, as Ms N'Zi-Hassane stated, should be additional, adequate, accessible and grant- and needs-based in line with core principles of equity, gender justice and human rights. While the COP27 decision to establish the fund was an historic first step, it has not yet been capitalised on. Wealthy and high-emitting nations such as Ireland can demonstrate leadership by being ready to make an initial substantial pledge to the fund at COP28. Members of Civil society are the people most affected and they need to be involved in the fund’s decision-making processes. Along with stakeholder engagement, civil society must have a seat on the board of the fund. Ireland should work to ensure the fund follows the principle of subsidiarity, wherever possible, and that it prioritises direct access, representation and participation in decision-making by impacted communities, including rural women, smallholder farmers and other marginalised groups. To this end, the fund should include a small grants window for direct access for local communities.

Trócaire welcomes this opportunity to draw the committee’s attention to these issues and the need for an ambitious response to the global stocktake report. Ireland must continue its leadership role with the loss and damage fund. Specifically, Ireland should be ready to make an initial substantial pledge to the fund at COP28, ensuring the pledge represents new, additional and grant-based finance. Ireland should further support the development of a fund that will provide predictable and adequate funding that is based on climate justice principles. Ireland should work to ensure the fund follows the principle of subsidiarity so that participation in decision-making by impacted communities, including those I have referenced and other marginalised groups, is to the fore. I thank the Cathaoirleach and committee members for their interest in these matters.