Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 November 2023
6. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the way the Government is preparing for COP28; the extent of the State's commitment to loss and damage funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50246/23]
View answerThe purpose of this question is to ask the Minister the way the Government is preparing for COP28 and the extent of the State's commitment to loss and damage funding.
COP28, the annual UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties, will take place in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December. Mitigation of and adaptation to the impacts of climate change, climate finance for adaptation and mitigation and loss and damage will be priorities for Ireland during the conference. While public finance remains key, other more innovative sources of finance must also be identified including from the fossil fuel sector in order to support the most vulnerable countries in mitigating and building resilience against climate change.
Throughout this year, Ireland has been committed to delivering recommendations on a loss and damage fund that will serve the most vulnerable countries and communities. The transitional committee on loss and damage, on which Ireland was represented by the Department of Foreign Affairs, has met intensively since March. After a difficult process, there is now a text on the table that is to be formally approved at COP28. Ireland and the EU encourage endorsement by all parties at COP28 of this text.
Ireland is firmly committed to mobilising further finance for loss and damage, including through this new fund, pending formal agreement of the text at COP. We are working with our partners in the EU to plan in this regard. To date, we have demonstrated our commitment to loss and damage finance by pledging finance to initiatives such as the Santiago Network to provide technical assistance on loss and damage, and the Global Shield to assist vulnerable communities to prepare for climate disasters.
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. There has been some commentary and critique in relation to the text on loss and damage to be discussed at COP28 in the context of, for example, the role of the World Bank, the extent of the funding and how it may be distributed - in the form of grants versus loans, etc. Is the Minister confident the text will be agreed? It seems apparent that there is significant scope for improvement and that, at best, it will be a compromise. Does the Minister see it as a step in the right direction in the first instance and what are the improvements that the Government will be seeking to make in the time ahead?
I expect it to be approved, and I very much welcome it. Politics always involves compromise, but it is a significant advance which Ireland was very centrally involved in last year at Sharm el-Sheikh in the context of agreeing the principle of a fund and then being on the transitional committee to deliver it. The World Bank is an appropriate vehicle - I said as much at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September - because we need to deliver this quickly. There are immediate needs. The extent of funding has to be best matched by a mosaic of different funding solutions to it, as was set out at Sharm el-Sheikh last year. It cannot be only Exchequer funding because that will not provide the scale of funding that will be required. We need to look at international financing flows, levies from aviation and maritime, reform of the multilateral development banks, carbon taxation and getting the fossil fuel companies to divert investment towards cleaner energy solutions.
The American Government was the only one which expressed a certain concern about the final text. It has since, I am glad to hear, shown approval for it. I expect it will be approved at COP. We have to fund it then and make sure it is up to the task and delivers quickly. I hope it helps the wider negotiations because there are so many different issues we have to address at COP. Loss and damage is critical but it has to be part of an overall solution.
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. In fairness, I recognise the part played by him and the Irish officials in advancing the case for loss and damage. That is important.
A further issue has been highlighted from an Irish perspective by environmental NGOs and those working in the climate justice space. The Minister will be aware that the report published by Christian Aid and Trócaire, namely, The Cost of Inaction: Ireland's fair share of Loss & Damage finance, points towards a figure of €1.5 billion out to 2030. The commitment from Government is for €225 million to 2025. Is the Government aware of this report? Is it reassessing Ireland's fair share? Can we expect further commitment?
On the point relating to loss and damage funding not being under the umbrella of Overseas Development Aid, ODA, and the fact that it is dedicated funding, it is welcome that the funding from Ireland will be in the form of grants rather than loans. Will it be secure?
I am glad Deputy O'Rourke referenced the report from Christian Aid and Trócaire. I hosted them in the audiovisual room on Tuesday where they presented their report. I thank the Minister for attending that briefing.
I acknowledge the central role the Minister played at COP27 in landing this loss and damage facility, flawed and all as it might. I praise the work of Irish officials at the transitional committee, particularly Dr. Sinead Walsh. I hope Dr. Walsh does not mind me naming here.
It would be helpful for Members if we could have a detailed briefing - on a cross-party basis - on the outcome of the transitional committee in order that we can all get to grips with the level of detail that is involved, and the level of ambition that we need to set out in terms of loss and damage. I agree with Deputy O'Rourke it cannot be climate mitigation. It cannot be climate adaptation. It cannot be ODA. This needs to be a separate funding stream however we use that mosaic of funding sources.
I was hoping for an update on the Minister's recent attendance at the pre-COP28 meeting. Question No. 22 deals with the matter. Most likely, it will not be reached.
I very much appreciated going to that event hosted by Deputy Ó Cathasaigh. It was useful. There is real urgency. The reason we support the World Bank is because we need to be quick. The former US Vice-President, Al Gore, stated in a good presentation earlier on the summer that there is a €1 billion climate impact event happening every 18 days. It is happening now. It is here and now. However, we have to recognises that the more we invest in mitigation and adaptation, the less we will have to invest in loss and damage. They are connected. They compliment each other. That is why I say we need a mosaic of finance solutions. We need a variety of different financing solutions in mitigation, in adaptation, and in loss and damage. What Ireland continues to say, and will say in Dubai, is what we are really focusing on is to make sure that the investment goes, in particular, to the most vulnerable countries. In climate financing to date, that has not happened. Through our ODA programme, my Department and the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Finance, we have a proud record of supplying grant-led, not-tied, locally empowered support. The doubling of our climate finance, which we will deliver the year after next, to €225 million is a not insignificant achievement of which we should be proud. However, we need to go further. One of the best ways of going further is, in the context of the negotiations, looking to get money from the polluters and from global financial flows, because the scale of the financing we need, as was set out in that report, is beyond compare.
