Stark Irish Political Response To IPCC Report Puts Climate Justice Into Harsh Perspective
Yesterday the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued its sixth major report, providing a much-needed wake-up call about the current severity of the Climate Crisis, and what is to come if we do not take urgent and meaningful action on emissions.
You can read our insights in to the report here.
While the report garnered global media attention, the reaction amongst political parties in Ireland provided a glaring contrast, and an insight into just how far our nation has to go if we are to avert the worst outcomes of the Climate Crisis, and ensure a just transition.
A Stark Contrast
On the day that the IPCC report was published (Monday 9th August 2021), it occupied two of the highest trending positions on Twitter in Ireland, with #IPCC garnering over 67,000 tweets over the first 24 hours, and #ClimateReport resulting in more than 33,000 tweets.
Interestingly, #ResignLeo – a call for Tánaiste Leo Varadkar to step down after his latest scandal – was one of the few trends to come even close to the IPCC report in its popularity across Ireland.
Amongst those committed to sharing the report – and the renewed call for more urgent climate action – were a number of prominent political parties in Ireland, including the Social Democrats, the Green Party, Sinn Féin and Labour.
However, two prominent parties were notable in their absence: Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.
Neither party posted a single tweet about the IPCC report on the day that it launched.
You might question why this matters, after all is it only Twitter.
Yet, with a combined audience of over 103,000 people they have missed a vital opportunity to increase awareness about the IPCC report, and improve education about the Climate Crisis across Ireland.
A day later and both parties have now posted a single tweet about the report - Fine Gael issuing a single post at 1:23pm on Tuesday 10th August about Ireland “becoming a leader on Climate Action” by 2050 – a deadline that the IPCC report clearly and repeatedly states is far too late to have any impact on averting the worst possible outcomes of the Climate Crisis.
Meanwhile, at 2:07pm on Tuesday 10th August Fianna Fáil posted “We’ve passed the Climate Action Bill into law. We now need a robust plan that gives us the tools to ensure that we reach those emission targets.”
Clearly we weren’t alone in feeling that there was a notable contrast in how Irish political parties responded to the IPCC report, with over 10,000 people viewing our post on Twitter. Credit: IrishEVs/Twitter
Frankly, while Fine Gael’s response is little more than self-serving and misinformed, Fianna Fáil’s is considerably more alarming as we are now 60 years after the Climate Crisis entered the public awareness, and the party in power with the most seats has casually declared that it doesn’t have a climate action plan.
“The party in power with the most seats has casually declared that it doesn’t have a climate action plan”
We contacted the press offices of both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil for comment on their failure to recognise and promote the IPCC report, and how they would be implementing the scientific findings into law.
The specific questions posed were:
1. Why did Fine Gael/Fianna Fáil choose not to post about the IPCC report on its Twitter account yesterday, given the severity of the report?
2. Does the party recognise that this reinforces a public view that Fine Gael/Fianna Fáil has not lived up to its environmental and ecological commitments - as shown by the Climate Case Ireland ruling?
3. What will the party do to implement the urgent and necessary actions outlined in the IPCC report?
At the time of publishing, we have yet to hear back from either party.
Just Transition
As we mentioned in the introduction to this article, a key focus for Ireland’s climate action policies needs to be on ensuring a just climate transition.
While this means ensuring that people at home, here in Ireland, aren’t left behind – we’ve previously written about our fears that energy poverty could increase without necessary supports – a just transition means we must also put our contribution into a global perspective.
Those nations and people in the Global South (by which we typically mean low-income and developing nations) have historically produced the smallest amount of greenhouse gas emissions, but they are also the most vulnerable to the effects of the Climate Crisis. Furthermore, they are likely to have the smallest budgets for mitigation efforts.
As such, Ireland must recognise that the average person in the Republic has a carbon footprint nearly three times larger than the average person on Earth. As such, our contributions and actions to cut emissions should be at least three times greater than those in the Global South – we must pull our weight.
Furthermore, we must adapt culturally and politically to the changes the Climate Crisis is already presenting, and which will worsen in the coming years.
End Direct Provision
While the Climate Crisis will kill millions – with thousands already dying each year due to the effects we are already seeing – it will also cause widespread displacement of people.
The Institute for Economics and Peace has estimated that some 1.2 billion people from across 31 countries will likely be displaced in the next 30 years – remember that Fine Gael has pledged net-zero emissions by 2050, at which point we will have gone past the tipping point into irreversible climate changes, and these 1.2 billion people will already have been displaced.
This is where Direct Provision comes in.
Implemented in 1999 as an “emergency measure” under a Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael majority, the system is still in place today and the current government has said that it will not come to an end until 2024.
“Fine Gael has pledged net-zero emissions by 2050 - by which time 1.2 billion people will already have been displaced”
In essence, Direct Provision is supposed to be a system to provide accommodation and assistance for asylum seekers while their applications are reviewed. In reality it is yet another painful scar in Ireland’s history – a system renowned for continual human rights abuses that rivals the Magdalene Laundries for its consistent cruelty, oppression, pain and suffering.
Direct Provision was not fit to meet its task to begin with, but somehow has been propped up by Irish politics, and allowed to continue by Irish society for over 20 years – ultimately with the aim of discouraging people from seeking asylum here.
A just transition will not only mean that we will need to do our part to cut emissions, but also to provide sanctuary for those people who are left homeless by the Climate Crisis – by our own high-emission lifestyles.
People in Direct Provision have consistently been subject to humiliating practices and human rights abuses by the Irish State. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
If we do not drastically lower emissions in the next 3-5 years, the displacement of 1.2 billion people will only be the start – we simply must not perpetuate the Direct Provision system that has so flagrantly and consistently abused the 7,400 people currently existing under its governance.
We must learn from this dark period and ensure that Ireland’s climate action plan includes not only considerably more ambitious targets and actions to cut emissions no later than 2030, but also that we have a system that provides humane, welcoming and unwavering support to those who are displaced and left homeless by the Climate Crisis.
We have failed on this front thus far, and Céad míle fáilte –a hundred thousand welcomes – just won’t cut it when billions are displaced.
Please consider donating to MASI - an independent Irish advocacy group supporting those living in Direct Provision, fighting unjust deportations, and pushing to end Direct Provision.
You can Follow them on Twitter and Donate Here.
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