Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 25 October 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

COP27: Discussion

Photo of Jennifer WhitmoreJennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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Loss and damage is one part of the picture. It is of assistance to countries that have suffered because of activities of developed countries historically and currently. A level of accountability must always be at play. This comes back to the points made by Deputy Bríd Smith about how many corporations and countries have made a lot of money from creating and doing this damage over many years. How do we bring that level of accountability? One of the things I would be keen to see is a law on ecocide in order to hold countries, corporations and individuals to account at a global level for any damage they cause to the environment. Is there a potential role for that to be part of the picture so that it is not only loss and damage but also legal accountability?