Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am always reluctant to speak after Senator Higgins on an issue like this because she speaks so eloquently and with knowledge. The Labour Party has tabled amendment No. 5, which proposes to include a definition of climate justice. However, we will withdraw it and row in behind the amendment before us. In the debate in the House last Friday, the Government side argued that, after much deliberation at the climate committee, there was no good definition of climate justice. The Labour Party has come together, in a united front, with members of the Opposition, NGOs and outside interests to have one definition, cutting it down, as Senator Higgins said, to the bare bones and understanding that the targets set in this Bill will be the bread and butter issue.

It is important to have an overarching principle within what is groundbreaking legislation. Senator Higgins spoke very eloquently about how climate justice is fundamental to how a developed country, like Ireland, tackles the issue of climate change, by recognising that others who have not contributed as much towards the increasing heating up of the planet will be most affected by it. They will be most affected by displacement and the impact of climate change. It is important that we, as a country, and particularly the Minister, as somebody who has been active in this area for three, if not four, decades and knows and deeply understands the issues around this, have an overarching principle in terms of climate justice. The poorest people in the world need to be protected by that.

I urge the Minister to accept the amendment from the Opposition parties, which has stripped the issue back to the bare bones. As Senator Higgins said, while the amendment does not include matters she wanted to include, for example, the very disproportionate impact climate change has on indigenous populations, it is also general enough to capture the spirit of what we are trying to achieve. The Labour Party will not press its amendment. We will be behind the wider Opposition amendment, which proposes a workable definition of climate justice. I urge the Minister, in a spirit of co-operation, to accept that definition because it is important that overarching principles are contained in the Bill, in addition to bread and butter targets that put meat and bones on the Bill.