Malcolm Noonan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I support the previous call in regard to our dry stone walls. There might be some role for the Heritage Council or ETBs on traditional skills. It is part of our vernacular heritage and we have a vernacular strategy. I support that call.

I raise a matter relating to the other COP, that is, COP16. We are all familiar with the climate talks but the biodiversity talks, COP16, have resumed in Rome this week following a breakdown of talks in Cali in Colombia. I was present at those talks. It was a farcical situation unfortunately, where many from small and developing states or countries had to return home because they did not have the money to stay in the hotels. It is something the Irish Government tried to help with at the time. However, it left it in disarray. We have a real challenge. The Rome talks have resumed, against a backdrop of increasing biodiversity loss, degradation of habitats and a collapse in many species through deforestation and resource exploitation. As has been raised before around ODA and the climate crisis, these are all inter-related. There is the cutting of aid programmes, which also support biodiversity, agro-ecology and indigenous peoples. These people see nature not as nice to have, like we do, but essential to their survival.

We are at war with nature and it is time we called a truce. COP16 is the mechanism by which we can make and keep pledges to halt biodiversity loss and restore nature on land and in our rivers and seas. There is a small Irish delegation there, I understand, but no Minister is attending. I think there is very poor attendance by ministers generally. There is not much hope there among delegates that there will be any outcomes, particularly on financial mechanisms and ways to fund it. I would welcome a meaningful debate in this Chamber on an all-island basis, looking at biodiversity and where the opportunities lie for Ireland. There is a lot we can be positive about. We showed a lot of leadership in developing our national biodiversity action plan and supporting and leading on the nature restoration law in Europe. However, as we have heard from previous speakers, all those elements around nature and climate are being rowed back on as well as ODA. It is something on which Ireland can continue to show leadership. I hope we can have a meaningful debate about biodiversity in Ireland and look at it on an all-island basis.