Ireland is falling short in its actions to avert “the gravest crisis facing humanity” and must step up its commitments to pay its fair share of the devastating costs of climate change, Trócaire has said.
The overseas development agency said the Government must increase its commitments at Cop27 on the issue of loss and damage finance to support countries experiencing the inevitable impacts of climate disruption – an issue set to dominate at the “African Cop” in Egypt.
Trócaire called on Ireland to show leadership by following Denmark and Scotland, who are among the first wealthy countries to commit to loss and damage finance.
The agency said with successive droughts contributing to severe hunger and threat of famine in East Africa, and recent rains flooding one third of Pakistan, establishing a permanent loss and damage finance facility would be “a defining issue of Cop27 and a key demand for civil society and developing countries”.
Meanwhile, delegations from across vulnerable country blocs including African states, which will negotiate together at Cop27, have set out a six-point roadmap in an effort to ensure Cop27 is a success. It covers loss and damage, climate finance, increasing adaptation funding and enhancing mitigation efforts to contain global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees.
Trócaire said agreeing to a finance facility was a matter of climate justice, while climate finance needed to be in line with the needs of developing countries and to be “new and transparent, and additional to any future increases in overseas development assistance”.
The Government should pledge support for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, it said – a move that is supported by the European Parliament.
“Current targets set by Government must represent the absolute floor of our ambition and significantly ramping up efforts over the coming years will be crucial if Ireland is to meet its fair share of the global climate mitigation effort,” said Siobhán Curran, head of policy and advocacy at Trócaire.
While Ireland’s Climate Act had set out a target of reducing carbon emissions by 51 per cent by 2030, “we remain the third highest emitters per capita in the EU”, she said.
“Cop27 offers Ireland the opportunity to lead by example: to take responsibility for its role in contributing towards the emissions that are spurring climate breakdown, and to work to advance climate justice. It also offers Ireland the chance to champion the voices of those most impacted, particularly grassroots women who face barriers to participate meaningfully in these negotiations and in climate decisions affecting their lives,” she said.
African group of negotiators chair Ephraim Mwepya Shitima said Africa contributed least to global warming – generating less than 4 per cent of global emissions – and yet was the most adversely impacted.
“Africa is already experiencing severe and widespread impacts of climate change causing devastation to lives, livelihoods and the continent’s development trajectory. And this is a clear manifestation of climate injustice,” he said.
There were high expectations “the African Cop” would deliver substantive progress and implementable climate actions on priority issues for Africa and other developing countries, he said, “with the ultimate aim of correcting the injustice and getting the world on a path to a secure and safe climate future.”
Chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) group Madeleine Diouf Sarr, said: “Since 2013 rich countries have recognised the need for loss and damage of climate change to be addressed but have dragged their feet ever since. But the momentum is building and it’s becoming clear that no one can stand in the way of this issue being properly addressed. An African Cop is the ideal place to see the creation of a loss and damage fund so that the poorest and most vulnerable people can get the help they deserve.”
Egypt’s chief climate negotiator Mohamed Nasr said: “The world faces many challenges right now, not least [the] food and energy crisis. But the climate crisis cannot be ignored, it continues to devastate lives and livelihoods of the poorest people and without swift and substantial action, things will only get worse. Covid-19 and this year’s geopolitical challenges have seen nations coming together to provide support for those in need. Cop27 offers a chance to do the same for the victims on the front line of the climate emergency.”
Separate analysis by the World Health Organisation published on Thursday found the number of reported disease outbreaks and climate-related health emergencies in the greater Horn of Africa have reached their highest level this century, deepening a health crisis in a region where 47 million people are already facing acute hunger.
