Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

When I met Mary Robinson first it was in relation to climate justice, which is the next step from all the issues of social justice that Senator Flynn just spoke about. If we are talking about action on climate change, we need to talk about climate justice and the commitments that are in the Paris Agreement, namely, the common but differentiated responsibilities. Those are around the wealthier countries and Ireland is a wealthier country. It does not matter if there are other countries too. We have responsibilities that we are not living up to in terms of doing what we should be doing or carrying or contributing our fair share of climate finance to the countries that are worst affected and have done the least to cause climate change but are facing the most devastating impacts. We are not even giving the percentage we committed to under the sustainable development goals, let alone what is needed for loss and damage, which our actions and those of other developed countries have imposed on so much of the world. We are not doing our part in emission reductions. It is not okay to say we are not on track, we will not make it. To be clear, we are not on track but we still need to make it. We still need to get to 51% by 2030. It needs to be in every party's manifesto. It needs to be constantly put forward by everybody. If what we are doing is not enough it will mean not just speaking to business leaders, but disappointing some business leaders and working around them. We must use every instrument we have such as the State, for example, in Mandate for Nature, when we talk about land management, as was mentioned. Coillte should have a climate mandate for that 7% of the land in the State. These are the big shifts and changes and the massive transformations which of course have to be done with justice and with giving people the supports and compensation they need. However, they need to be done fast.

The most important issue which I believe right now threatens our delivery of climate action is militarism. Two months of the assault on Gaza was equivalent to the annual emissions of 20 of the most climate vulnerable countries in the world. If we do not take action and speak as climate activists against militarism, we are at risk of seeing something so often unaccounted for in terms of its emissions, creating a devastating setback. We need the resources of the world not towards the weapons of death but indeed towards what will make our planet livable for everyone.