Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will speak to the question of climate justice. We discussed the issue on Committee Stage. With respect to my colleagues, who spoke of a situation that is not of our creation, it is of our creation. Anthropogenic climate change is driven by human activity, predominately in developed and wealthier countries, including Ireland. We have a huge responsibility in that regard. When we talk about that situation, climate justice is about acknowledging the responsibility that we hold. There is a common but differentiated responsibility. Everybody has a responsibility to respond. There are those who have done the most to drive it and have built their wealth on it. Companies have built their wealth on the causes of climate change. Countries have also built wealth by driving emissions, and through emissions, the costs of which have been felt in other parts of the world.

That is the context of where we are now. We are at a point of incredible international vulnerability. We know that 140,000 people are already dying each year due to climate change.Entire cities and towns are vanishing from the face of the earth. Floods are making some uninhabitable while, in others, temperatures are being reached at which the human body can no longer survive. We have seen the impacts of drought in Central America and in the African Sahel. Drought is forcing millions of people to move as they seek to survive. That is the situation now. We bear a disproportionate responsibility because we have been, and still are, responsible for a disproportionate amount of the emissions. In our debate on Second Stage, I mentioned that Ireland produces over 8 tonnes of carbon emissions per person as opposed to Malawi's 0.11 tonnes per person. The people in Malawi are farmers as well, albeit very small farmers. When I met them, I saw that they were doing everything they could to try to burn slightly less charcoal and to reduce their emissions. They were working to do that. That is the context of climate justice.

I am glad the Minister removed that language which was problematic and about which there was real concern. This language, previously in the Bill, would have been an embarrassment to Ireland. I am also glad that he has acknowledged that the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the idea of common but differentiated responsibilities inform part of his understanding of climate justice. However, I believe we should cement that understanding in the Bill because, as has been pointed out, climate justice is not referenced directly in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, although the principle of climate justice is reflected in the narrative regarding common but differentiated responsibilities. We want to ensure that, where provisions state the advisory council or Government must have regard to or be consistent with climate justice, it is really clear what is meant. We want to copper-fasten the relationship between climate justice, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change commitments on equality and the requirement that decisions and actions taken to reduce climate greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the effects support the people who are most affected by climate change but who have done the least to cause it and are the least equipped to adapt to its effects and safeguard the rights of the most vulnerable persons.

The Minister mentioned that it is complicated and difficult to come up with definitions. It is not that complicated. The entire Opposition has come up with this proposal collectively. All groups in the Opposition were involved. We all had multiple definitions, because we all care about climate justice, and we have now come up with one. Even the Labour Party, which put forward its own proposal, has agreed to support this one. All non-Government groups in the Seanad are putting forward this definition of climate justice. We have taken out some of the things we would have liked to include, such as provisions in respect of equality and recognising indigenous communities who led on the concept of climate justice. We have narrowed the definition to the absolute bones of what must be thought about, which are the issues of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, support for the people who are most affected by climate change and who have done the least to cause it and are least equipped to deal with its catastrophic consequences, and the safeguarding of human rights for vulnerable people. That is what we think should be considered part of climate justice within this Bill.

The Minister should accept this definition. It will strengthen the Bill. While the commitment to the overall reduction to 2050 is part of our goal in trying to do our piece in achieving net zero by 2050, including the definition will mean that, in all of those actions in between, when we are thinking about our plans, specific budgets and all of the various other instruments and periods of action that flow from the Bill, climate justice and those really important principles will be to the fore. It is a really useful check in deciding on how to achieve these emissions reductions. It would be good to accept the amendment. There is nothing in it which was not in the Joint Committee on Climate Action's recommendations. We have taken out a number of the elements of those recommendations but the core elements remain. It would send a really good signal in respect of climate justice. As the Minister is aware, a number of NGOs have also indicated their support for this definition, including Trócaire, Oxfam, Christian Aid and others. We are putting this amendment forward now. There is not really an excuse for there not being a definition of climate justice, because when I campaigned with many others from around the world on the issue during the Copenhagen climate talks the Minister was active in that area too. He has known about the issue of climate justice and has campaigned on it since 2008 or 2009. There is no excuse for not having a good definition in this Bill. The Minister did not start thinking about this in January. I have been thinking about climate justice, and talking and engaging with him, Stop Climate Chaos and others, about it. We have been talking about climate justice for two decades. There is no excuse, therefore, for not including in this Bill a definition of climate justice that is strong, good and shows leadership by Ireland. It is good that there is not a bad definition. I am glad it is not a backwards step, but let us try to take a step forward.

I urge the Minister to accept this amendment, which is put forward by every Opposition group in the Seanad. It is consistent with the principles put forward by the joint Oireachtas committee and has been called for by many of the international NGOs currently trying to work with local communities across the world to alleviate the devastating impacts of climate change. They know this is an issue of justice and how important a signal on climate justice can be. I urge the Minister to accept the amendment in that context.