Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

We are not pushing this amendment to a vote. We will withdraw the amendment and resubmit it on Report Stage. I would like a bit of indulgence to speak to this amendment and back up some of my other colleagues in the Opposition on the definition of climate justice. The part of the Bill that bothers me more in terms of the weakness of it are the words "as far as practicable" because we all know from other issues in the Constitution that this tends not to be followed through with.

The definitions that have been proposed by Sinn Féin, the Labour Party and Independents, which are all backed by environmental NGOs, come up with a reasonable compromise around what climate justice is. Senator O'Reilly touched on it eloquently when she discussed the consequences for developing nations if we do not have climate justice. We have issues of climate refugees and displacement. The most vulnerable communities in countries in the developing world that are not net contributors, as we are, are the ones that are more vulnerable to climate change. I ask the Minister, between now and Report Stage next week, to have a look at this, and talk to the Opposition and the environmental NGOs to come up with a better definition of climate justice in the Bill and particularly to delete those words "as far as practicable". Those words take away from the definition that is in the Bill.