Ms Frances Fitzgerald:

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and Senators for the invitation to be here along with my MEP colleagues. It is a pleasure to meet up with old friends and see many new faces as well. We are all agreed that this is the defining issue of our time. There is no question about that. It has taken a while for everybody to come on board with that but it is definitely accepted now that we are at a particularly defining moment at present regarding climate change. In a way it becomes easier as we see more and more the impacts of climate change, not just in far distant islands and far distant continents, but here in Ireland and right across Europe. We have all seen the forest fires, the high temperatures, the flooding and the enormous challenges and that certainly brings it home.

The recent IPCCC report is a reminder that we have limited time in which to take action to prevent the more devastating impacts of climate change. The report, based on climate science, reinforces and builds on existing evidence which links extreme weather events to climate change, if ever there was a doubt about it. We are facing a very difficult few months ahead with Putin's winter, the changes in the availability of energy and the associated costs. This is making it all the more urgent that we act in a whole variety of ways.We saw from Ursula von der Leyen in the state of the Union address the range of initiatives that we need to take, such as reducing demand, decoupling gas and electricity prices, caps on the energy companies etc. All of this will be needed. The Senators will know the goals that we have and I do not need to go over them here. They include no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, economic growth that is decoupled from resource use, which is an important point, and no person and no place left behind. The whole question of a just transition, which I will say a little more about, will be incredibly important and is something that we have to focus on.

Both of my colleagues have spoken about the range of change that is needed in every area. I am on three committees in the European Parliament, namely, the economic committee, development committee in the women's rights committee. In each of those, we speak about the impact of climate change and the action that needs to be taken from many perspectives, such as the development point of view, as Mr. Andrews has already spoken about, and the impact of climate change on some of the most vulnerable countries in the world. We know that climate change impacts on women and particularly on vulnerable women.

Economically, enormous demands are being made in every area, for example, financial services, the moves to taxonomy, being stricter and more careful about what we invest in and the enormous transport changes. We have big transport changes to make here in Ireland. The timeframes are quite challenging in the context of the pace of change that is needed in transport, if we really want people to move from their cars and to use public transport. That has to be the goal because it is such an important area.

The Fit for 55 package is the big area where we have proposals to revise key EU climate and energy legislation, in line with the new 2030 target. It is interesting to be involved in the discussions, because people vary. There is argument at present because of Ukraine, because of the energy prices and because the lack of affordable gas and electricity. Some say that perhaps some of the goals should be moved a bit further. People are nervous about doing anything like that, because it would mean that they are actually saying, “No, we do not want to achieve that”. However, I have heard many colleagues arguing in relation to that, which has been a point of discussion.

Energy poverty is something we will have to look at seriously, given the reliance that we have had on Russian gas imports, such as in Germany. Certainly, looking at it retrospectively, it seems incredibly short-sighted to have had that overreliance. My eastern European colleagues would all say this. Ursula von der Leyen said in her speech last week that we should have listened to our Eastern European colleagues, who were the ones who knew Putin, who knew what he was like and who said that we just cannot trust him. They were clear on that and they proved to be absolutely right.

I mentioned the just transition. I have been involved in a number of the files on the EU just transition fund, which is important legislation. It has a budget of €17.5 billion, which includes significant funding earmarked for the midlands here. There is also a public sector loan facility, which is part of local authorities being able to access funding for a just transition in their area. That is up to €30 billion in public investment to make sure that we have a just climate transition. As ever, the European Union is providing the funding, but the point will be to access that, to implement it and to make sure that the support is given to those who need it.

We also have the €750 billion recovery fund. What has been important about that - and I have been pleased to see it here in Ireland with the Government’s plans as well - is that at least 37% of the recovery fund must be devoted to climate and biodiversity spending and 20% of it to digitalisation. The important issues in the Seanad and in the Dáil when we have that recovery fund available to us will be to monitor the spending of that and to see how those criteria around using the money for environmental goals for climate and biodiversity play out over the next number of years. Just transition is a key point because all over Europe we have communities, particularly in eastern Europe, which are still dependent on fossil fuels. We will have to create alternative opportunities for people in employment in local towns and local villages. We will have to support the areas of retraining, the refitting of old buildings, the restoration of land and ecosystems, protecting biodiversity and restoring natural habitats. It is my understanding that there is now a just transition commissioner here in Ireland with the values of a just transition to a climate-neutral Ireland and overseeing that. That is extremely important.

These are some of my key points on climate change. There is an enormous educational public information campaign still to be done, particularly in terms of demand reduction coming into the winter, but also in relation to the challenges of climate change and how we need to work with the public to ensure that we are all working on this together.