Climate change is already having an enormous effect on the lives and the livelihoods of some of the poorest people in the world. Last year the Government launched our new Policy for International Development, ‘One World, One Future’. It clearly identifies the impact of climate change on development as a priority area for action.
My Department has been working very closely on these issues with the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, which has the lead responsibility for Ireland’s climate change response. We will continue to work collaboratively across Government to support the objective of reaching a legally binding international climate agreement at the United Nations Climate Conference, to be held in Paris in 2015.
Through the Government’s overseas aid programme, which is managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, we have been working to provide assistance for smallholder farmers and poor communities to adapt to the changing environmental context. Through our support for agricultural research which directly addresses poverty we are assisting farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere in the developing world to become more sustainable through enhanced farm methods and improved seed varieties. We are scaling up our assistance to agriculture in a way that delivers on inter-related hunger and climate objectives. This includes support for climate smart agriculture, agro-forestry, crop diversification and the development and promotion of drought resistant crop and livestock varieties. I emphasised the priority we attach to this work when I co-hosted the major Zero Hunger international meeting at the United Nations in September.
The increasing impact of uncertain weather patterns and the increasing number of severe weather events has a devastating effect on some of the poorest communities where Irish Aid is working. We are supporting programmes to prepare for and reduce the risk of disasters. We are also helping developing countries to plan for climate adaptation nationally and supporting their engagement with the international climate change negotiations. This will remain a priority area of work for my Department.
