Eco-Congregation Ireland supporters were among 150+ people who gathered on Sandymount Strand, Dublin, on the morning of Saturday 4th July to bury their heads in the sand, signifying what the organisers say is the government’s attitude towards climate change.
Stop Climate Chaos, the coalition of civil, development and faith organisations behind the event, says that with just months to go until major global climate talks, the lack of government action on climate change is of serious concern. Eco-Congregation Ireland is a member of Stop Climate Chaos.
Commenting, spokesperson for the coalition Sorley McCaughey, Head of Policy and Advocacy at Christian Aid, said:
“The government have their heads in the sand on climate change. They promised to pass the Climate Bill into law before the summer recess but it is yet to happen. We currently have no action plan to address Ireland’s rising emissions, despite being among the worst in Europe when it comes to climate change emissions. And despite an embarrassing episode at the climate talks in Peru last December, where Ireland was one of only two developed countries not to pledge financial assistance to the Green Climate Fund, a fund which supports countries worst affected by climate change impacts, we still have made no financial commitment to the fund.”
Continuing, Mr McCaughey said: “All of this points to a serious lack of urgency on the part of the government. Failing to take action is resulting in the poorest communities in the world, who have done least to cause climate change, being hit the hardest, as was emphasised in the recent Encyclical by Pope Francis.”“This inaction is in contrast to the speed at which policy is developed in other areas, for example the agri-food sector, where the latest strategy, which allows for damaging increases in agricultural emissions, was developed in eight months and comes five years ahead of the expiration of the current Food Harvest 2020 plan. On the same day as the new plan for agricultural expansion was launched the government announced that they will not have to produce a new climate action plan until 2017, five years after the last plan expired.
“If the same eagerness was applied to climate policy we could by now be availing of the economic, environmental and social benefits of transitioning to a low carbon future. Instead, we risk significant fines for missing EU targets as well as considerable reputational damage in view of the international climate negotiations in Paris at the end of this year.”
The Stop Climate Chaos event in Sandymount made a stark visual impact and received good media coverage. See www.stopclimatechaos.ie for more.