Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Climate Action which is before us. My colleague Deputy Eamon Ryan played a vital role in pressing for the committee to be set up, just as we pushed for climate issues to be included in the work of the Citizens' Assembly. I commend all those who worked on the report - Deputies, Senators, committee staff, researchers, academics, activists and everyone who contributed and presented to create a very important document. It is the beginning of a real roadmap towards a greener, safer and secure future for all of us. The cross-party report is not perfect, but it is an important first step. It is vital that we in this House go further than just noting its contents, as usually happens with committee reports brought before the House. As we all know, noting their contents means condemning them to gather dust on a shelf in the ministerial corridor. That cannot happen with this report. This Dáil has noted too many committee reports without the Government taking step to put their recommendations into force. We cannot afford for this report to be treated in the same way. That is why we have submitted an amendment to have it endorsed by the Dáil.

The committee was created as a process for parties and Independents to come together, tease out the issues, have the important discussions and come to a collective conclusion. Compromises were made, as they have to be, when we all commit to working together. Not everything the Green Party sought to have included in the report made it into the final draft. We all have to make compromises because if we did not, nothing would ever be done. In a cross-party process such a this no one gets everything he or she wants. It is vital that we do not fixate on individual issues but instead come together, unite on the issue of our time, namely, saving the planet and creating a sustainable future, to which we say "Yes".

We have an opportunity to commit to doing something real and tangible because this issue is too important for us to do anything less. The report is a roadmap for action. Let us endorse it. The financial, social and ecological cost of climate inaction presents too great a risk. We need action now. The scale of the change we must make cannot happen without the political will to make radical, systemic changes in how we structure our world. Individual citizens have a crucial role to play, but it must be a Government-led approach, with the biggest polluters being made to change their ways.

Hope is coming from those who will suffer the most from climate change. Young people have been taking to the streets and calling for climate action. Every Friday students have gathered outside Leinster House to protest at the Government's climate inaction. Young people realise they will be the ones most affected by the short-sightedness of the Government today. However, they do not yet have an electoral voice.

I have three children, aged 12, ten and eight, who are already looking forward to being able to go to the ballot box because their future, like that of all other children, is at risk. As they watch this debate tonight they, like many other young leaders of this country, will be disappointed that nine of 158 Members saw fit to find time to debate this issue. Where are the Members who profess to care about climate change? I hope that the children and others participating in the climate strike on 24 May will loudly and clearly ask where those Members were when this report, one of the most important to come out of the 32nd Dáil, was debated.

We cannot tackle climate change and continue to explore and drill for oil and gas or continue with a national development plan that prioritises road expenditure over public transport, walking and cycling. As my Green Party colleague in the UK, Caroline Lucas, stated, "we cannot tackle climate change with an economy built on the assumption that precious minerals, fresh air, clean water and rare species can magically regenerate themselves in an instant".

In the past 18 months there has been a blizzard, a hurricane and a prolonged summer drought in Ireland. News items in February showed people wearing shorts and queues for 99s. That is not right. It is climate chaos and meltdown. It is a climate emergency. Temperatures are rising, our global and local ecosystems and habitats are being pushed to the limit and our seasons are being knocked utterly out of kilter. This has terrifying implications for our natural heritage, insects and future food security. That is why it is vitally important that this House declares a climate emergency. We call on all Members to support the Green Party's amendment to the motion which proposes to do just that.

It is also essential that in declaring a climate emergency we commit to concrete, real and identifiable action rather than just uniting around vague concepts. There is little value in all declaring a climate emergency without committing to doing anything about it, which is why we must endorse the report of the committee. There is no room for complacency, populism or green washing in the greatest challenge facing humanity.

Greta Thunberg, the inspiring young climate activist, stated that "Our house is on fire." When one's house is on fire, one does not extinguish part of the fire, one extinguishes all of it and ensures that one is safe. That is why we need to endorse all the recommendations of the report and ensure they are implemented and then go further.

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