'We know the climate crisis is spiralling out of control', Oireachtas committee told

Politicians were warned "we know the climate crisis is spiralling out of control" as aid charities outlined what they would like to see from the Irish Government at this year's global climate summit.

COP29 is being held in Baku, Azerbaijan from Monday, November 11 to Friday, November 22, when discussions about climate action and the money to deliver what's needed are expected to take centre stage.

On Tuesday morning, Trócaire and Christian Aid spoke at the Oireachtas joint committee on the environment and climate action.

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Trocaire's Siobhan Curran said: "We know the climate crisis is spiralling out of control. We all saw the scenes last week in Valencia. In southern Africa, we've seen countries declare disaster due to drought and we continue to see human suffering due to crop failure, food insecurity and loss of livelihoods.

"In Somalia, more than 43,000 people lost their lives due to the worst drought in 40 years... over half were children under five years of age. Somalia has minimal emissions - 0.03 per cent of global emissions - so there's a great injustice here that richer countries and corporations continuously fail to reduce emissions and fail to mobilise climate finance at a scale that's needed."

Siobhan says $1.5 billion will be needed a year by 2030 - but just $702 million was pledged to the loss and damage fund globally at COP28, with Ireland pledging €25 million, which, she added, is "one per cent of our fair share". Siobhan has called on the Government to "progress these areas at COP", mobilise new sources of climate finance and for the next government to scale up its loss and damage contributions.

With oil and gas companies taking an average of $2.8 billion a day in profits since 1970, she added: "There is widespread calls for windfall taxes on oil and gas companies, including by the UN Secretary General, who calls for the immoral soaring profits of oil and gas companies to be taxed and argues the grotesque greed is punishing the poorest and most vulnerable people while destroying our only common home."

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Ross Fitzpatrick from Christian Aid said a 'New Collective Quantified Goal' for climate finance is expected to be agreed at COP29. Countries agreed in 2015 they would provide $100 billion a year to support developing countries by 2020. The target was finally met in 2022, but Oxfam estimated just $28-$35 billion of it was actually public climate finance.

Ross added: "The UN's Standing Committee on Finance estimates that around $5-$6 trillion is needed by developing countries out to 2030. While the scale of finance required is significant, it is important to remember governments spent $7 trillion on subsidies for the fossil fuel industry in 2022 alone."

He says the new global finance goal "must be based on the needs of developing countries... provided largely in the form of new and additional, grant based finance" and that "wealthier developed countries – including Ireland – must take the lead in providing the bulk of the finance under the new goal in line with the principles of historical responsibility and equity".

Ross Fitzpatrick, Christian Aid

Their comments come as Sinn Féin MEP, Lynn Boylan, raised concerns Ireland is behind on all four key climate and energy targets according to a European Environment Agency report.

Ms Boylan said: "With the recent flooding seen in Valencia, it's clear there are very real and serious consequences for failing to properly address climate change. Despite our greenhouse gas levels remaining too high, our use of renewables too low and our energy consumption continuing to rise instead of fall, the government failed to give proper additional funding to the Department of the Environment."

Meanwhile the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) warned the country has significant gaps to close to meet legally binding climate targets by 2030.

Its CEO, William Walsh, said "we are far from being on track for success" and called for "significant expansion of incentives, information and regulation" on a national scale to meet our legally binding cuts in fossil fuel emissions and keep the world below 1.5 degrees of global heating.

We will be bringing all the latest updates from the COP29 climate summit in Baku with support from Global Ireland. You can follow our environment correspondent on the ground @ShaunaReports on X.

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