Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I hope we all agree that we are on the same page in wanting a fairer, more peaceful and more sustainable world by 2030 because that is what we signed up to in the sustainable development goals. In August 2015 at the UN, 193 countries agreed to this. Ireland and Kenya did Trojan work in bringing the negotiations to that agreement. Deputy Pringle's Bill gives Ireland an opportunity to show that we are serious. It is about starting a conversation and letting the Bill go to Committee Stage where the misgivings and doubts can be ironed out. Deputy Pringle was very clear in saying he is open to any amendments.

While the Bill focuses on divestment relating to fossil fuels, the crux of the matter is climate change which we all, apart from those in denial, agree is a major issue, having catastrophic effects on communities and countries with, of course, some feeling those effects more than others.

Climate change is not an entity in itself that does not affect other aspects of life. Global warming with droughts and floods is having a dire effect on hunger and nutrition for people. The Mary Robinson Foundation with Irish Aid, the World Food Programme and other organisations held a conference four years ago when Ireland held the EU Presidency. The title was "Hunger, Nutrition and Climate Justice." It was an innovative conference because as well as bringing the key leaders into the space, it also brought people who are living in front-line communities directly affected by climate change and the hunger and poverty that comes from that.

The relationship between climate change and hunger were very apparent. Delegates from about 100 developing countries spoke. They were farmers, pastoralists and those from fishing communities who outlined what it was like living with those droughts and floods, and the unpredictable rainfall, and how they were affecting agriculture and food security. There were stories from Kenya and Nepal. There were stories about the threats to the fishing industry in islands of the Caribbean. There were stories about the cyclones and tidal surges in Bangladesh and Malawi, with the extremes of dry and wet weather, the erratic rainfall making it very difficult for farmers to produce food.

There were presentations outlining the climate change effects for herders from Ethiopia, Senegal and Mongolia. The traditional food sources for the Inuit communities living along the Arctic have been compromised by climate change with thinner ice and the earlier breakdown owing to warming.

The burdens of climate change are not distributed proportionately. Those least responsible, mainly the countries I have mentioned, are paying the most and it is causing starvation and malnutrition which in turn affects people's health and their ability to access education and to work. Those are rights we take for granted. Nelson Mandela said, "Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity; it is an act of justice." It is not about handouts; it is about empowerment.

At the conference we heard that Irish Aid and others are empowering communities to feed themselves and tackle the challenges of climate change. There were very uplifting stories from all those communities who were dealing with that. Those changes are caused by our so-called developed world. The central message from the conference was that "Hunger, nutrition and climate justice are development challenges that cannot be effectively addressed without explicitly dealing with their inter-connectedness." This Bill is but one small contribution to that.

There have been previous efforts leading to the Paris climate agreement. Some of the terms are legally binding and others are voluntary. The positive is having the first global commitment on climate change even though we know it does not go far enough. Allowing the Bill to progress sends a signal that we are serious.

Our policy for international development is outlined in the document, One World, One Future, which reiterates Irish Aid's top priority to reduce hunger. That features very strongly in the Sustainable Development Goals. The first is no poverty, the second is zero hunger and three others relate to climate action. The Sustainable Development Goal on climate action is very specific: "Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts" by regulating emissions. The Bill reflects part of the urgency of that action.

The reports and data released yesterday were very opportune with 2016 being the hottest year on record reminding us of the quickening pace of climate change with the increase in the average surface temperature. I quote from Mr. Taalaas who said, "The long-term indicators of human-caused climate change reached new heights in 2016."

As Mr. Oisín Coghlan from Friends of the Earth put it yesterday, "... the planet is screaming at us, but who is listening?". Allowing this Bill to progress shows that we are listening. Fair play to all of the NGOs and other organisations that are keeping this matter on the agenda. The term "climate refugee" and the displacement it suggests really brings home the reality of the situation and the devastating effects of climate change.

The central point of this Bill is that public money should not be invested in areas that are not in the public interest. It is in the public interest for fossil fuels to remain in the ground. Of course, there is also the major issue of policy coherence. We must ensure that we do not give, on one hand, and then undermine ourselves, on the other. This divesting from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, under the remit of the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, is a signal that we are serious. It is not even immediate but involves a five year process from the commencement of the Act. This divestment would be in line with Ireland's commitments in the Paris Agreement. It is both a practical and symbolic move. We must acknowledge the global movement to divest. In that context, I wish to commend the work of students in Trinity College and the National University of Ireland at both Galway and Maynooth.

Even though a large number of companies have committed to reducing their emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, no fossil fuel company has done so. That is very disturbing. We have not just started talking about climate change; it has been going on for quite a while and it will continue unless there is stronger energy and commitment on this.

Finally, I wish to refer to this building, particularly as we are talking about doing our best in terms of renewable energy and so forth. I wonder sometimes if we are doing enough in this building. Our schools do so much to educate young people with the Green-Schools scheme, teaching them about segregating rubbish and so forth. Are we doing anything to ensure that the waste food in this House is composted, for example? The Reichstag building is running on almost 100% renewable energy at this point. Can we follow that example? The greening of the Reichstag building parallels a growing trend in Germany towards zero-emission homes. Some home owners are even selling surplus energy back to the national grid.

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