Three members of the Eco Congregation Ireland committee were among church representatives who took part in a church-state round-table discussion with Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley TD, in Government Buildings on 3rd December.
The meeting was part of the Minister’s preparations for the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen, which takes place in Copenhagen from December 7th to 18th.
The Minister outlined to the representatives of the church and faith communities Ireland’s and the EU’s position in the talks, and the importance the Government attaches to achieving a positive outcome at the meeting.
He admitted, however, that it was looking extremely unlikely at this stage that a binding agreement would be reached in Copenhagen. He said that “the danger with treaties like these” was that they were extremely complex, which meant it was very difficult to reach agreement, and that, while the Obama administration had its heart in the right place, progress had been slower than he would have liked. He did add, however, that “we are now closer than ever before”.
He said there was “absolutely no doubt” that climate change was going to happen and that it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that it was “the biggest issue facing humanity”. “It affects all of us, but in different ways,” he said. “We do know that the poorest countries in our planet are affected in a tremendous way … We have agreed to fast-track finances for REDD [the UN’s Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries] to help poorer countries invest.”
The Minister said that he saw climate change “very much as a moral issue” and that he would like to acknowledge the role churches and faiths had played in the debate on climate change at a national and global level, especially on the subject of climate justice. “They have highlighted the responsibilities of developed countries to take action on climate change,” he said. “They have also acted as strong advocates for the protection of the most vulnerable groups and peoples in the world from the worst impacts of climate change.”
He said that Ireland’s economic growth had been responsible for “huge carbon emissions” and that we could play “a huge role” in reducing CO2 emissions. The Government was committed to a programme of reforestation and restructuring of public transport. Also, a programme of retro-fitting, with an initial budget of €50m, which would involve insulating local authority houses. “What we want to do is to provide for those families who will suffer from fuel poverty because it is the poor who are reliant on high carbon fuels, like coal.”
Referring to recent flooding in the west and south of the country, the Minister said that “the mistakes of the past simply won’t happen anymore”. “It’s very disturbing when I see the way our country has been planned; we built in the wrong places, which meant people were totally reliant on their cars,” he said. “We have had record rain levels recently and I have received report after report, saying that these are the kinds of trends we can expect.
“The unpredictability of climate change is the biggest challenge. What the science is telling us is that we need to do things a lot quicker. We need to be far more ambitious; we have to make a cut of 85-90% of our carbon emissions by 2050.”
The Minister said that climate change legislation had been agreed the previous day, which included a 3% annual reduction in carbon emissions. A climate change committee, consisting of a panel of experts completely independent of government, would require the government to meet the targets set down in legislation.
He also highlighted the priority of climate change finance, and his view that it was not a competing, but a parallel priority to the Millennium Development goals. “The cost of mitigation and adaptation action in developing countries could amount to as much as €100 billion annually by 2020. Of that amount, the international public support element could be in the range of €22 to €50 billion annually.
“These are enormous sums by any standard but they are commensurate with the scale of the action required to underpin a fair and effective global agreement on climate change. The EU is committed to paying its fair share at an international level and Ireland is committed to paying its fair share of the EU contribution.”
Department of the Environment officials were impressed by the work of Eco Congregation Ireland in raising awareness about environmental matters and encouraging churches, Christians and communities to pursue eco-friendly lifestyles and to engage in the climate change debate.
Archbishop Dermot Clifford, Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, represented the Roman Catholic church at the meeting while Janet Maxwell, Head of Synod Services and Communications, and Fiona Murdoch (Communications Officer, Eco Congregation Ireland) represented the Church of Ireland. Rev John Purdy and Helen Shiel represented the Methodist Church in Ireland, Rev Charles McMullen the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Ali Selim, the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland, and Estelle Menton, the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland. Catherine Brennan SSL, chairperson of Eco Congregation Ireland, also attended the meeting.