Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am glad the Taoiseach is not here today. It is very important that he is representing Ireland at COP27 in Egypt today because it is vital that we see really strong leadership at national and international level on tackling the climate catastrophe. As COP has got under way, we have been hearing increasingly bleak prognoses from world leaders. We heard António Guterres, UN Secretary General, say we are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator. He is not mincing his words, nor is our former President, Mary Robinson, in her strong warnings this morning on radio urging far more rapid and urgent implementation of promised measures here and internationally. While world leaders have committed previously to keep global warming below 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, far from achieving that we are on track to reach a 2.8°C rise by the end of the century, and eight of the ten hottest years on record have occurred in the past decade. If we miss our global warming targets, we will not have to wait long to see the consequences. We are already seeing them now, with devastating floods in Pakistan, the devastating famine encroaching on the Horn of Africa, the drought there and the excessive heatwaves in Europe. Here in Ireland, on a balmy, sunny November afternoon, we can see the consequences of climate change ourselves with the bizarre environmental impacts on our plant life, with real risks to our biodiversity and with unthinkable things happening in our environment and in agriculture.

The things we take for granted, like having land that is capable of food production, are now at real risk. We watched lots of horror movies during the Halloween season but I can think of nothing more scary than the immediate future facing us with this imminent climate catastrophe. The failure to take international action has generated cynicism among many activists, included Greta Thunberg, but the COP process is the only game in town. It is the only international forum where we can see world leaders come together to try to achieve change, even at this late date. The Labour Party believes in the power of that forum to take the necessary collective action but we need to see a resolve from our own leaders that is commensurate with the challenge. In particular, we need to see the Taoiseach stepping up along with the Minister and the rest of the Government to ensure we do not just set ambitious but necessary targets but deliver on the measures needed to reach those targets.

We are just over seven years away from the 2030 deadline. With the best and most constructive will in the world, it is impossible for many of us to see how we are going to reach our target of a 51% cut by 2030. We have missed targets, rising emissions, low investment in critical infrastructure and significant delays in generation of offshore wind capacity. Ireland is the second highest emitter of greenhouse gases per head of population in the EU so we need to see more urgent action. Will the Taoiseach show a commitment to the polluter pays principle so that those paying the highest price for climate change will see justice? Will he sign up to and promote the fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty while he represents us at COP27 this week?

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