Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I want to talk about the challenge of climate action in the term of this Parliament. I am pleased, but not surprised, to hear statements from representatives of other parties in this Chamber confirming how urgent it is that we take action on climate change. No one party has a monopoly on the topic of climate change. I look forward to hearing the contributions of Deputies in the remainder of this debate to hear their perspectives too.

It is incumbent on us all, from all parties and political traditions, to apply our best thinking on how we can transform society to lower our emissions radically.

The task ahead is so hard it is almost unimaginable. It will affect us all, urban and rural, young and old, rich and poor. For decades, the growth of our economy and society has been predicated on the burning of fossil fuels. We know we need to reduce this reliance extraordinarily quickly. The science is clear, it is brutal and there is little time for nuance. We will need all the talents in this House and outside it to make the necessary changes.

Those of us who describe ourselves as socialists will need to bring to the task our awareness of equality and our desire to make a fair society. Those of us who describe ourselves as capitalists will have to bring our awareness of the power of markets and enterprise to achieve innovation and rapid change. Those of us who are republican will need to bring our awareness of the importance of cherishing all the children of the nation equally, for it is our children who will have to carry the burden of our failures. Those of us who call ourselves technocrats must bring our awareness of the need to follow the very best scientific advice, no matter how uncomfortable our conclusions. Those of us who are democrats, which is all of us, will have to call on our awareness of the need to bring people along with us.

I will not attempt to categorise myself according to the political categories I have mentioned. I will say that those of us who consider ourselves to be environmentalists, among whose number I include myself, need to bring an awareness that we do not have all the answers. We have left it too late and we do not have time to celebrate a vindication. Indeed, we have made our own mistakes in our political response to climate change. We must work with everyone, from all political traditions, to achieve action on climate. What we must not do is attempt to use the need for action on climate as a proxy for other political battles. The battle is not one of eco-socialism versus eco-capitalism. The battle is about harnessing both eco-socialism and eco-capitalism and combining the best ideas from both traditions in pursuit of our urgent need to leave a habitable planet for future generations.

I am hopeful about the success of our efforts because the Oireachtas has already shown it can be done. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Climate Action in the last Dáil was a cross-party committee that undertook an incredible amount of work, culminating in the publication of a 157-page report which was extremely comprehensive. I pay tribute to the different political groups in the Oireachtas for contributing so ably to that committee, namely, Independents 4 Change, the Rural Independent Group, the Labour Party, Sinn Féin, the Green Party-Social Democrats Group, Fine Gael, Solidarity-People Before Profit, Fianna Fáil and the Seanad Civil Engagement Group. Each group brought its own analysis of the changes ahead and succeeded in working with others to achieve a consensus on the way forward. It was universally recognised that the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, did a fantastic job of chairing the committee. She is not in the Chamber this afternoon but I take the opportunity to thank her and the Deputies and Senators who contributed to the report. They have shown us the way forward through hard work and intense co-operation.

This Government has indicated its intention to take forward many of the recommendations of the report of the Oireachtas committee by way of a climate action Bill that will be published soon. I confirm my intention, as the incoming Chairman of the committee that will be examining the Bill, to work with all parties to interrogate that legislation and make it as ambitious as it possibly can be. We have a tough task ahead of us. If we work together, as Government and Opposition and from myriad political traditions, we have a small chance of succeeding in tackling the singular and existential issue of our time.

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