Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Unfortunately, Kerry's Deputy "Palin" Healy-Rae has left the Chamber, but I refer him to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and in particular to their fifth assessment report and its headline. The Deputy might read the details. I will give him a copy of it. It is at least 95% likely that human activities, chiefly the burning of fossil fuels, are the main cause of warming since the 1950s. It goes on to give key indicators that have already been outlined by various Deputies, particularly by the Green Party leader.

Ireland is a party to the Framework Convention on Climate Change, along with 195 other countries, which arose from meetings in 1990. That was theoretically the turning point. I say "theoretically," because since then our global emission rates have increased by 61%. The debate is no longer about whether our emissions are having an impact. That debate is over, and the question is now about the severity of our impact and what window of opportunity is left in which we may still take action and learn to take responsibility as a country for our emissions, which are contributing to global warming and over which we have control. The acting Minister complimented himself once again on the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act. He deserves some praise for it, but the Act utterly fails to provide for the urgent action necessary. It fails to define what "low-carbon" means and it has no legally binding carbon emission targets. It fails to recognise and provide for climate justice or recognise that those who are suffering and will suffer the most from climate change and global warming are the least responsible for global warming. To put it another way, those least responsible and least able to withstand the impact bear the brunt. There is no mention or provision for that in the Act. It provides for an independent advisory council, but at the same time the Minister has utter control, with an ability to remove the chairperson when he sees fit, and he does not have to follow the advice it gives. The Act utterly fails to recognise the urgency of the problem. I refer all Deputies to an article by emeritus professor John Sweeney from NUI Maynooth, in which he talks about a window of opportunity of two decades. We do not have any longer than that to take action to achieve the radical cuts in emissions required to avoid dangerous climate change. The Act utterly fails to recognise that while Ireland is a small country, it nevertheless has a very large carbon footprint. Each Irish person is responsible for as many carbon emissions as 88 people in Ethiopia. That is the carbon footprint of one person in Ireland. As has been said repeatedly here, much of Ireland's carbon emissions come from the agriculture, energy and transport sectors. The percentages have been outlined, but they are likely to increase right up to 2020. Ireland meets over 90% of its energy requirements by importing fossil fuels, spending €6.5 billion per year in the process. The agreement that I cannot mention, which is known as the TTIP, is very relevant to climate change because it utterly fails to provide for climate change and is primarily being pushed by the fossil fuel industry. We will not mention it for the moment, in deference to the Acting Chairman, but allow me to mention the elephant in the room-----

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