Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Carpe diem. I thank my colleague, Senator Martin, for bringing forward this motion. I acknowledge the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, who committed to trying to get this done a year ago when he visited Kildare.

The Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 by 12 countries. There are now 42 signatories of the treaty, covering 80% of the world's population. It is great timing because we had an historic maritime Bill passed by this House and embraced by the coalition Government and today we have this great motion which will ensure we are at the table and signing up to the treaty to protect Antarctica. We have been accused of being climate laggers in the past and we must show that we are not like that any longer. Yesterday's Bill and today's motion are fitting to show that we are pulling up our socks and treating this as a real climate emergency. Without going into too much detail, everybody knows how important Antarctica is with regard to carbon sequestration and biodiversity. So many of the great whales and sharks come from that area and the krill that are hugely important for carbon sequestration as well. It is great that the Minister has come to the House today. I thank him for coming in and taking the issue seriously.

I will speak briefly on the need to protect this almost pristine environment. The Antarctic Treaty is unique in this world. The land is not owned by any one country and in a fast growing world of greed and globalisation, it is amazing to think we have this one space that we have not found a way to buy and sell and take all the minerals out of it. I am pleased to see that we are up for taking on this motion. The land is not owned by any one country and its management is agreed in this special treaty. This has ensured peace is maintained on this continent, which sadly has not happened anywhere else in the world. The level of environmental protection is also unique, as it explicitly protects against human interference – God knows we play our part everywhere else; the environment and natural world are protected as a result of its inherent and recognised intrinsic value. Its protection is sacred and explicit in limiting human interactions and preventing human extraction of resources, as has happened in almost every other corner of the Earth.

To agree with the Antarctic Treaty and the protections offered therein, allows us to demonstrate that we believe in the intrinsic value of protecting and conserving the natural world. We have so much more to do with regard to the significant challenge we face with the biodiversity and climate emergencies that we see wreaking havoc all over the world and coming closer to home every day. It is important that, as my colleague said, we are at the table for this treaty. It would be madness not to support it. I look forward to hearing the Minister's response on how we can manifest the motion into action so that Ireland is part of the treaty. I value the presence of the Minister and his giving his time. I thank my colleague, Senator Martin, for his work on the motion. Great people from all over Ireland went to Antarctic, not just Kildare people. The Kerry people would kill me if I did not mention Tom Crean as well. It is an important treaty and it is great that the Minister is here today to give us guidance on what he is going to do to get Ireland to the table.