Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

We are in a climate emergency and rapidly running out of time to avoid catastrophe. One of the most disgusting elements of this climate crisis is that those who are most responsible suffer the least, while those who are least responsible suffer most. The top 1% of the richest people in the world are responsible for 16% of all carbon emissions. That figure rises year after year. However, those people can pay to be immune from the consequences of climate change. This is not so for the more than 40,000 who died last year in the Horn of Africa as the consequence of a famine primarily caused by climate change, the millions who will lose their lives in the coming years as a consequence of climate change or the hundred of millions who face being displaced as a consequence. Private jets are the epitome of this social and climate injustice. The average private jet owner has personal wealth of €1.3 billion. A private jet flying in or out of Ireland on average emits 10 tonnes of CO₂. That is roughly equivalent to what the average person in this country emits over an entire year, or the equivalent of driving approximately 40,000 km. As Deputy Smith said, last year almost 7,000 private jets departed from Ireland. That is up 159% on the year before. We have a total carbon budget left of approximately 320 gigatonnes of CO₂to give us a 50% chance to avoid temperatures rising 1.5^OC. We have just more than 1,000 gigatonnes left to give us a 50% chance to avoid temperature rises of 2^OC or higher. Every year, 40 gigatonnes are emitted and that gives us about eight years of emissions. Every single tonne of CO₂emitted on conspicuous consumption of the rich or on military expenditure is CO₂that is not spent on what is needed in regard to a rapid, just transition that improves the lives of ordinary people and avoids disaster for humanity.

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