Christopher O'Sullivan
Question:20. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at COP28. [53276/23]
View answerTuesday, 12 December 2023
Questions (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
Mick Barry
Question:21. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP28. [53405/23]
View answer
Bernard Durkan
Question:22. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Taoiseach to report on his recent attendance at COP28. [53525/23]
View answer
Robert Troy
Question:23. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at COP28. [54688/23]
View answer
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Question:24. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at COP28. [55080/23]
View answer
Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:25. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at COP28. [55114/23]
View answer
Paul Murphy
Question:26. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at COP28. [55117/23]
View answer
Alan Farrell
Question:27. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Taoiseach to provide an update on his engagements at COP28. [55145/23]
View answerOral answers (10 contributions)
I propose to take questions No. 20 to 27, inclusive, together.
I attended the World Climate Action Summit at the outset of the 28th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties, or COP28, in Expo City, Dubai, on 1 and 2 December. The summit marked the commencement of two weeks of negotiations on climate change, including progressing the finance needed to mitigate and manage its consequences. The latest negotiating text published yesterday is disappointing, particularly in relation to fossil fuels. It is weak and unacceptable to the EU, US and others. Negotiations are continuing and I hope that progress can be made and an ambitious outcome achieved.
COP28 is of particular significance as it marks the conclusion of the first global stocktake, a comprehensive assessment of the progress made in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. During the summit, I attended a leaders’ event on transforming climate finance and confirmed Ireland’s endorsement of the UAE declaration on a global finance framework aimed at making finance for climate action available, accessible and affordable. I participated in the global stocktake high-level event on the means of implementation, during which I emphasised the importance of delivering on commitments made and ensuring an adequate supply of finance. I also spoke at the launch of the Climate Club, co-hosted by Germany and Chile, which is a forum to facilitate collaborative work on reducing emissions in sectors that are hard to decarbonise.
On 2 December I gave Ireland’s national statement, where I announced that Ireland will contribute €25 million in 2024 and 2025 to the new loss and damage fund and will make further contributions thereafter. Overall, Ireland will double its international climate finance to at least €225 million per year by 2025.
While in Dubai, I had the opportunity to meet with Middle Eastern and Arab leaders to discuss the conflict and the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and to express Ireland’s appreciation for the assistance they gave us in evacuating Irish citizens from the territory.
I met other world leaders, including King Charles, the President of Brazil, the President of Ghana, the Prime Minister of India, the UK Prime Minister, the Prime Minister of Barbados and the Prime Minister of Fiji, as well as many European leaders who I meet regularly in Brussels. I also visited the Irish delegation and met with Irish youth climate advocates, representatives of humanitarian NGOs and academics.
I call Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan. I ask Members to keep to one minute.
COP28 has highlighted the level of resistance from oil and gas and companies and countries closely tied to oil and gas. There is an inherent resistance to a reduction in use of fossil fuels globally. We are seeing the scale of the battle we face in order to address that. We have to continue that fight in terms of international discussion. At home we need to ramp up efforts to wean ourselves off fossil fuels, including oil, gas, diesel and so on.
We find in this House that it is easier to talk of things like floating offshore wind because it is out in the sea and will not impact anyone, but most of the solution at the moment is being provided by onshore wind. We cannot forget about that technology. One third of our electricity comes from onshore wind; it was two thirds in July. We need to develop a system. An Bord Pleanála has in the past 12 months not granted planning permission for a single onshore wind farm. That needs to change if we are serious about renewable energy.
The Taoiseach described the draft text put forward by the COP presidency as disappointing. I would describe it as disgraceful. There is no clear commitment to phasing out fossil fuels, correctly described as a death cert for small island states. It is clear the Minister, Deputy Ryan, will not sign that text but the concern is there will be a splitting of the difference. I would be opposed to signing that. I would like to hear the Taoiseach's comments.
The negotiating position put forward by the Minister is far from sound. I refer to carbon emission cuts in the EU of 57% by 2030 when scientists are telling us it needs to be 76%, watering down the idea of ending fossil fuels, adding the word "unabated" and no date for coal being phased out in the European Union. Young people are going to have to fight for their futures against the powers that be irrespective of who wins the debate today.
Can the Taoiseach say whether it was obvious that the countries producing fossil fuel energy are not serious about the need for reductions, on the one hand, and the extent to which the consumer countries - like this country and other European countries - are prepared to make the alternatives available in the shortest possible time, on the other? Postponing it to some mid-point in the future and into the nowhere is not the answer. We must be prepared, otherwise we will have a shortage of energy.
COP 28 will reinforce the existential crisis we face if we do not take some drastic action very quickly. When the Taoiseach and I served in the Department of enterprise, there was an agreement to implement non-financial reporting for large companies and listed SMEs. That is for companies to annually say what they are doing with regard to reducing their carbon emissions. The implementation of that has been deferred by one year already. I learned recently that there are plans to defer it by a further two years in certain areas. I do not expect the Taoiseach to have the answers to hand, but I ask him to use his good offices to find out exactly what is happening. Many companies are ahead of the curve on this already and are doing really good things to reduce their carbon emissions. If we are deferring certain requirements by a further two years, that is a retrograde step. I ask the Taoiseach to look into the matter further.
We all hope for an ambitious outcome to COP 28. We cannot be sure of it. We have seen the conflict of interests, particularly with regard to making those necessary move away from fossil fuels and into renewables. Was there any discussion with regard to the huge carbon footprint caused by the weapons industry and those who profit from slaughter. I refer to the type of slaughter we are seeing in Gaza at present, with 18,000 dead, including 8,000 children, 1 million in danger of starvation and 1.9 million displaced. The European Union and many of its leaders have been absolutely disgraceful in what they are doing to provide cover for Israel. I do not know how America or any other county could stand over a veto on a ceasefire. We need to make sure that we work, like we did with that letter, with those who are willing, and who are on the right side of this argument with regard to humanitarianism. We need to do that, and that involves sanctions, and sanctions beyond just those imposed on the people involved in the disgraceful settler movement. It also means that we have to deal with companies that are still able to put money into companies involved in illegal settlements in Palestine.
The science is absolutely clear. Coal, gas and oil must be left in the underground. Yet, at COP, it is clear that the interests of profit and of oil-producing countries are coming first, while the needs of humanity are being forgotten. The COP process is failing. That is why I asked the Taoiseach earlier about whether Ireland would support a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty. He seemed to ask why Ireland had not been presented with a treaty or been involved in negotiating that treaty, but this is precisely at an early point. There is no text of a treaty that Ireland is being asked to sign. Ireland is being asked to commit to the basic three pillars of a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty, which are non-proliferation, a fair phase-out and just transition and to work with other countries. A series of small island nations, Latin American countries, the European Parliament and the World Health Organization have signed up to work on such a treaty modelled on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Will the Government also sign up?
The draft text released last night by the COP presidency is beyond disappointing. For it to state that "reducing both consumption and production of fossil fuel in a just, orderly and equitable manner so as to achieve net zero by, before, or around 2050 in keeping with the science", is quite a disappointment in the context of the action that is required. The main issue that I have with that is the term "or around", and then a cop-out reference to the science, which was just thrown in for good measure.
I have serious misgivings about the organisation of the conference and its being hosted in an oil-producing country, not because I do not think we should do that in the future - I do - but we have to come to a global consensus on the meaningful decisions that have to be made by the entire global community as quickly as we possibly can. I endorse what Deputy Durkan has said regarding this State's role in weaning our citizenry off fossil fuels and accelerating the programme in that regard.
I thank the Deputies for their questions. Deputy O'Sullivan referred to resistance to change from oil and gas companies and oil and gas-producing countries. I agree with Deputies Farrell, Durkan and O'Sullivan regarding our responsibility to scale up the use of renewables. Approximately 40% of the electricity we produce is from renewable sources. We are aiming for in the region of 80% by 2030. We think that is achievable. It needs to be done, not just through offshore and onshore wind but also by means of solar and battery storage and interconnection. We should not underestimate the challenge in getting that done. The energy systems we have were built up over generations. We are going to try and change them in a relatively short period. That is going to be a challenge for every country, not least Ireland.
Deputy Barry asked about expectations on a final agreement. The negotiations have entered a critical phase as we move to conclude the first cycle of the global stocktake. The latter assesses progress made in implementing the Paris Agreement and provides the context for countries to update their greenhouse gas reduction commitments and agree a new collective climate finance goal for next year. The latest negotiating text published yesterday is not acceptable. The text on fossil fuels in particular is weak and unacceptable to us, the Americans and others. We want to see ambitious language on fossil fuels. Global emissions need to peak by 2025, and we need to reach net zero by 2050. Therefore, the phasing out of fossil fuels in a just and orderly way is essential. While abatement technologies can play a role, they will be limited to those sectors where it is hardest to reduce emissions, like steel and concrete.
Negotiations are continuing. I hope that progress can be made and an ambitious outcome achieved. The outcome must include ambitious action on mitigation before and after 2030, on adaptation and on implementation, including aligning global finance flows with these goals.