Era of climate change denial is mostly gone, Tánaiste says

By Gráinne Ní Aodha and Cillian Sherlock, PA

The era of climate change denial is mostly gone, Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said.

Mr Martin said that the vast majority of the Irish public believed that the world’s climate was changing and Ireland needed to focus more on adapting itself to withstand more extreme weather events.

Responding to the warnings from an independent climate advisory group that Ireland will not meet carbon targets for 2025 or 2030, Mr Martin said that a 30 per cent reduction by 2030 should not be “dismissed”.

Speaking to reporters ahead of a Cabinet meeting, Mr Martin said the coalition Government had put a legislative framework in place within the last two-and-a-half years that “will result in progress” on climate issues.

He said that Ireland’s economy and rising population presented challenges to achieving further emission reductions.

Responding to record-high temperatures in Europe and wildfires in Greece, Mr Martin said he believes there has been “an appreciable shift in public opinion” on climate change.

“I mean, the era of denial is gone, more or less, bar the fundamentalists who still don’t believe in the fact and the reality of climate change.

“But the vast, vast majority of people accept that the climate is changing.”

Mr Martin said that there was a need for a greater focus on “adaptation” to climate change, as warnings were issued in recent weeks that Ireland would experience more storms, heavier rainfall and higher temperatures.

“We will have potentially increased flooding, so people need to realise that in terms of the flooding schemes that have been designed by the OPW, you know, a lot of people have been objecting to various aspects of those, but those are critical in terms of our capacity to adapt to the climate change that is occurring in Ireland.”

He added there was also a need to adapt transport and food production systems in the face of a changing climate.

In relation to warnings from the Climate Change Advisory Council, Mr Martin said that some progress had been made, but it needed to happen faster.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs said that a change of US presidency “has made a difference” in global aims to decrease emissions, and said that policies had been put in place that will lead to reductions in the future.

“The report does acknowledge progress, albeit not enough.

“In other words, on current trajectories we get 30 per cent reduction by 2030, which is not to be dismissed because that is progress and significant progress, more than anything we’ve achieved in the previous two decades.

“But we need to do more and we need to do much more faster.”