More leaders need to ‘tell it as it is’ Taoiseach tells Cop30
By Bairbre Holmes, PA
There needs to be more leaders “ready to tell it as it is”, Micheál Martin has told the heads of state and royalty gathered for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Brazil.
The Taoiseach said he is “concerned” the global “spirit of common purpose is weakening”, noting that there are fewer leaders at this year’s conference.
Speaking on Thursday, he said the world’s attention has been “drawn to other threats and crises” since the “optimistic” Cop26 conference held in Glasgow in 2021.
He said the challenges produced by climate change will worsen over time and that: “At a time when political leadership has never been more vital, there are fewer of us here in Balam, fewer leaders ready to tell it as it is.”
In his speech to the World Leaders Climate Action Summit, Mr Martin also highlighted the steps Ireland has taken to tackle environmental issues saying: “Ireland’s emissions have been falling for the last three years, and we now have lower overall emissions than at any point since 1990, despite our population growing by 50% over that period.”
Adding “we are making real progress, but we know that we have to go further”.
He said: “The people of Ireland are no strangers to shifting weather patterns and more intense storms, which expose our vulnerabilities.”
And described how Ireland is adapting by investing in flood relief schemes and coastal defences, early-warning systems and sustainable agriculture and industrial practices.
But also pointed out the effects of climate change are “not felt equally”.
Continuing: “The poorest and most vulnerable nations, and the poorest people within all nations, those who did least to cause this crisis, are often those who suffer first and suffer most.”
The global climate event is being held in Belem, in the north of the country, an area considered the “gateway to the Amazon”.
Mr Martin described it as a “place that is both a wonder of nature and a reminder of what is at stake.”
The UN’s scientists have recently revealed this year is set to be the second or third warmest globally as an “unprecedented streak” of high temperatures continues.
