Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

Nine countries have indicated they will leave the treaty and a number have already left. The modernisation attempts have failed. The European Commission has already agreed on modernisation reforms leading to countries exiting the treaty with EU officials saying that there is no qualified majority in the Council to adopt the modernised treaty. The European Commission said that given the number of countries quitting individually, renegotiating the treaty did not seem feasible. Countries have been leaving the treaty in reaction to these reforms. Reforms include a provision to protect existing fossil fuel companies for ten years.

The treaty has been described as a threat to climate action by civil society groups and UN experts and violates the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement by offering legal protection to climate-wrecking fossil fuel companies. I ask the Minister to lead by example. The modernisation is not working and even if it works there will be fewer countries in the ECT putting more pressure on the countries that remain, if they do, to support the ECT financially.

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